Jobless claims squeeze unemployment fund, but things could be worse

Business owners already have plenty of headaches, but another aspirin-sales catalyst is on the horizon. The state’s Unemployment Trust Fund is being drawn down by rising numbers of jobless claimants, forcing Louisiana to raise the employer tax on wages per employee from the first $7,000 to $7,700. At the same time, maximum weekly benefits will drop from $284 to $247, both starting Jan. 1. Once the fund goes below $1.4 billion, state law requires that such adjustments be made at certain intervals. Tara Lachney, spokeswoman for the Louisiana Workforce Commission, says the fund balance last week was about $1.197 billion and is on track to fall to $1.083 billion by August, as previously reported. On Friday, the LWC said continuing jobless claims the week of Nov. 14 increased slightly from the week before to 61,389. Still, things could be much worse. In California, 740,000 people are collecting benefits. That state’s Employment Development Department says its jobless fund is on track to end the year $7.4 billion in debt; California is borrowing from the federal government to issue unemployment checks. “Louisiana has not had to borrow from the feds to pay claims or bolster our fund,” Lachney says.—Todd R. Brown