Idaho unemployment insurance payouts reach record $627 Million

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• Eligibility for federal jobless benefits, $25 supplement extended

  Eligibility for federal jobless benefits, $25 supplement extended

  Eligibility for extended federal unemployment benefits and the $25 weekly benefit supplement has been restored to Idaho workers through April 3.

  The legislation approved by Congress and signed by President Obama on Tuesday does not increase benefits, but it does extend for another month eligibility of current claimants to qualify for the various tiers of extended benefits financed by the federal government. The extensions have added up to 73 weeks of benefits to the regular benefit maximum of 26 weeks.

  Idaho Department of Labor Deputy Director Roy Valdez said claimants do not need to call about the extension.

• Restored jobless benefits increase total unemployment payments

  Restored jobless benefits increase total unemployment payments

  Idaho unemployment-insurance payments rebounded strongly in the weeks after Congress’s decision to extend federal benefits for the country’s jobless.

  Payments to Idahoans were $11.1 million last week, up by about 70 percent from the end of June, when many federal extended benefits had been curtailed.

  The increase not only goes to people who are out of work, but also gets pumped into the state’s economy at businesses where people buy goods, economists say.

• Obama urged to turn successful state job program national

  Obama urged to turn successful state job program national

  WASHINGTON — As job losses continue to slow the nation's economic recovery, labor experts and economists are urging Congress and the Obama administration to boost funding for a little-known program that 17 states are using to avert layoffs and keep workers in their jobs.

  Mass layoffs of 50 or more employees claimed 278,000 jobs in the third quarter alone, according to new government data. All the laid-off workers were idled for at least a month and only one-third of their employers expected any of them to be recalled.

  In the face of continuing business slowdowns, however, thousands of employers are forgoing layoffs and taking advantage of state "work-sharing" programs in which they cut the hours of full-time workers, who then recoup a portion of their lost wages — usually 50 to 60 percent — from unemployment insurance benefits.

• Thousands of Idahoans face loss of jobless benefits

  Thousands of Idahoans face loss of jobless benefits

  About 22,000 Idahoans could exhaust their unemployment money over the next three months if Congress does not extend federal benefits, according to the Idaho Department of Labor.

  More than 4,000 lost their jobless benefits last week.

  Idahoans receive up to $359 a week in unemployment compensation.

• Loss of jobless checks costs Idaho families, local economies

  Loss of jobless checks costs Idaho families, local economies

  For Robin Thorngren and Bill Carpenter, the recession and unemployment have lasted longer than their jobless benefits.

  The couple, both unemployed for many months, saw the last of their unemployment checks come this month and prospects they will see another one anytime soon are uncertain.

  When Thorngren, who lost her job in November, found out her benefits were ending, she said, "I was scared."

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