Federal emergency unemployment ends for 90,000
EUC ends
Dec. 29; regular unemployment continues
IDES faces
20 percent budget cut in federal funds
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[December 20, 2012]
CHICAGO -- An estimated 90,000
people who worked in Illinois will no longer receive unemployment
insurance when the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation
program ends Dec. 29, according to the Illinois Department of
Employment Security. The state's regular unemployment program
continues.
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Once the EUC program ends, an additional 2,800 individuals each week
will complete the regular state unemployment insurance program and
not have access to the federal EUC. Every $1 in unemployment
insurance generates $1.63 in economic activity because the dollars
are quickly spent at neighborhood businesses.
Further, IDES is federally funded, and funding is partly tied to
the number of people collecting unemployment. That number will fall
because federal EUC ends ($16 million cut), and there are fewer
people collecting the state's regular unemployment ($11 million
cut). When combined with potential cuts from the fiscal cliff ($17
million cut), the IDES budget could be cut $44 million annually, or
about 20 percent. These cuts come at a time when the number of
claims remains 38 percent higher than prior to the recession.
To live within its budget, IDES already has non-scheduled 216
intermittent employees, consolidated eight offices and vacated 10
outpost locations shared with partners. The federal cuts might
necessitate further service reductions, including additional office
consolidations.
Illinois businesses pay into the Unemployment Insurance Trust
Fund to provide for the state's regular unemployment program, which
lasts 25 weeks for individuals who first claimed the benefit in
2012.
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After regular unemployment, individuals graduated to the federal
EUC, which was divided into Tiers I, II, III and IV. Collectively,
those provided up to 53 weeks of unemployment insurance. Congress
enacted the EUC tiers at various times under Presidents Bush and
Obama. The federally funded Extended Benefits program provided the
final 20 weeks of support. EB expired earlier this year after
specific thresholds were met, including a falling unemployment rate.
The EB thresholds and the EUC ending date were written into federal
law.
The unemployment rate identifies those who are out of work and
seeking employment. Individuals who exhaust benefits, or are
ineligible, still will be reflected in the unemployment rate if they
actively seek work.
[Text from
Illinois
Department of Employment Security
file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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