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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures." -- Daniel Webster
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Saturday, November 20, 2010 :::
State governments are borrowing heavily from the federal government to keep paying unemployment-insurance benefits and, even with the weak job market, most states are raising payroll taxes to pay off the loans.
The story is here.
þ Marginal Revolution.The unemployment-compensation system, initiated during the Great Depression, was designed so most states build reserves when jobs are plentiful and few workers are receiving benefits, and then draw down the reserves in bad times. But few states were prepared for a recession as deep and lasting as the recent one, with unemployment remaining at a historically high 9.6% a year after the economy resumed growing.
During the 2008-09 fiscal year, states collected $31 billion of unemployment-insurance taxes and spent $79.4 billion on jobless benefits. Taxes are typically levied on a per-worker basis.
::: posted by dWj at 1:01 PM
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