Some workers who previously were ineligible for unemployment compensation may now apply for those benefits in Pennsylvania.

According to the Department of Labor and Industry, those workers — including self-employed, independent contractors, gig workers, clergy and people without sufficient work history to otherwise qualify — may apply online, and their benefits will generally have the same compensation for those eligible for regular unemployment.

These benefits are funded by the federal government via Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, part of the coronavirus relief bill passed in late March.

Workers eligible for unemployment through PUA may receive up to 39 weeks of benefits, can backdate their claims to Jan. 27 or the first week they were unable to work due to the pandemic and are eligible for the additional $600 weekly in unemployment compensation also included in the stimulus package.

The additional $600 per week is effective for weeks without work from April 4 through July 25.

The jobless rate in Pennsylvania rose to 6 percent in March, a 1.3 percentage point increase from February, though those data are from the week ending March 14 — a day before Gov. Tom Wolf ordered nonessential businesses to close their physical locations. County data for March are not available.

More than 1.5 million Pennsylvanians have filed for unemployment benefits since March 15, according to the DLI. In Butler County, nearly 6,000 workers filed initial claims between March 22 and April 11.