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Two dozen states' unemployment funds in the red; nine more in next six months
The record 20 million Americans who collected unemployment insurance benefits last year landed on a safety net that was already deeply frayed.
A historical compromise has left responsibility for unemployment benefits largely in the hands of states, and they have fulfilled this charge with varying degrees of effectiveness.
In a series last summer with public radio's Marketplace, we reported that only a handful of states had built up reserves sufficient to weather the Great Recession–and forecast a spate of borrowing by states where reserves ran out.
Half a year later, the direst predictions seem to be coming true: So far twenty-five states have borrowed more than $25 billion to keep benefits flowing after their trust funds ran dry. In many other states the situation is deteriorating fast.