Unemployment Insurance: Compensating for Tough Times

Unemployment insurance has experienced an increase in national attention and use not seen since its creation in the 1900s. While the job market has rebounded a bit, jobless claims remain high. Research shows that for every dollar spent on unemployment compensation, the local economy receives between $1.70 to $1.90 in economic return. However, many states are facing depleted unemployment insurance trust funds. Learn about the complex interplay between the federal and state functions of unemployment, how COVID-19 affected unemployment insurance, and how states are thinking about their unemployment compensation systems going into 2021 and 2022.