State may see federal help to cover jobless benefits

By Michael E. Kanell

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

With the state’s unemployment insurance fund nearly depleted, a federal loan will likely be needed next month, according to the state labor commissioner.

A decision on requesting a loan from the U.S. Labor Department will be made by mid-December, Michael Thurmond said during a discussion Tuesday at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I am just trying to get us through 2009.”

While money is still trickling into the fund from employer payments, the big numbers are discouraging: The trust fund, which started November with $138.9 million, has been averaging $147.2 million a month in payments to jobless Georgians.

In addition to seeking federal help in December, the state next year may require that many employers pay higher unemployment premiums, Thurmond said.

Those premiums differ from company to company and are based on company size as well as the number of layoffs each has carried out.

Given the state of the economy, “I don’t think it’s in anybody’s interest to have a sharp increase in premiums,” Thurmond said.

The maximum payment to a jobless Georgian is $330 a week, while the average payment is $270.

In addition to being needed by many households, the jobless benefits are good for the economy, Thurmond said. “This money goes to buy food and gas and to pay rent. This money goes directly back into the economy.”

The official jobless rate for the state is 10.1 percent, and it's 10.5 percent in metro Atlanta. Roughly a half-million people are jobless and looking for work. Meanwhile, hiring has been so anemic that job seekers outnumber openings by more than six to one.

With the pool of jobless cresting,  Georgia this year has paid more than $1.47 billion in unemployment benefits. In all of 2008, the state paid $950.4 million, which was itself 50 percent more than the payments of the year before.

At least 24 states plus the U.S. Virgin Islands have already asked for the federal advances. Among those asking for aid are Florida, North and South Carolina and Alabama.

Under the law, the state cannot shirk its responsibility to the jobless, Thurmond said. “The main thing is, every claim that is payable will be paid.”