Approximately 312,000 jobs were created in December 2018 and the national unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. State unemployment rates for November 2018 can be found here.
NCSL tracks state unemployment legislation in a searchable database. Topics include benefits and eligibility, administration, taxes, solvency, federal requirements, workforce training or work-share programs.
Paid for by taxes on businesses based on the number of full-time employees, unemployment insurance allows for employees fired due to no fault of their own to receive a percentage of their income from the state for a maximum of 26 weeks.
Work share programs let businesses temporarily reduce the hours of their employees, instead of laying them off during economic downturns, with the goal of reducing unemployment. Programs have been enacted in 28 states and D.C.
