This is the first study to evaluate effects of early pension withdrawal on unemployment duration in the COVID-19 context. We use novel, linked population administrative records to examine 529,703 Australians who became unemployed in the initial pandemic months. Receiving a lump sum of up to A$10,000 from superannuation accounts in the April-June 2020 period resulted in a 32 per cent lower exit rate from unemployment inside the first six months on benefits, and 14 per cent inside a year of spell. Receiving A$10,000 in July – December, either as a first or second payment, generated a similar increase in unemployment duration.