WA unemployment checks going up at least $3
Thursday, June 23, 2011
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- People filing for unemployment benefits in Washington after July 3 will receive increased benefits.
The state Unemployment Security Department says the minimum weekly benefit will go up $3 to $138 and the maximum benefit will go up $13 to $583.
The benefits are calculated as a percentage of the average annual wage in the state. That went up about 2 percent last year to about $930 a week or more than $48,000 a year.
The department says the increase was not caused only by pay raises but also by the elimination of lower-paying jobs.
The increase also means increases in the unemployment taxes that businesses pay and in worker's compensation benefits for people injured on the job.
