DES MOINES, IOWA (AP) -- Iowa officials say employers will have to pay more to the state unemployment insurance trust fund to offset rising jobless insurance benefits paid to laid-off workers.
Officials with Iowa Workforce Development estimate 60 percent of the state's 80,000 employers will have to pay more. It's the first increase in eight years.
The fund has $508 million remaining after paying out $709 million in benefits to unemployed workers over the past 12 months.
The state can't estimate how much more companies will pay because each company's rate is calculated separately.
Agency spokeswoman Kerry Koonce says if the rate were spread across all employers, the increase would be 0.8 percent.
The rate for employers will be adjusted on Jan. 1. Companies will be notified in November.
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKTVO