- NC Voluntary Election For Withholding Of Individual Income Tax
- North Carolina Unemployment Rates
- QUALIFYING FOR UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
- NC Unemployment Law: Unemployment Eligibility and Reason for Separation
- North Carolina: Must I Declare Part-Time Income While Receiving Benefits?
- North Carolina Unemployment: Pension Funds and Unemployment Benefits
- North Carolina Unemployment Rules: UI Benefits and Pensions
- How to Claim Unemployment Benefits in North Carolina
- When the State of North Carolina Accepts Your Unemployment Claim When Can You Start Receiving Your Benefits?
The decline in the unemployment rate of the last three months has caused North Carolina unemployed workers to no longer qualify for the Extended Benefits program.
The unemployment rate in April remained the same in North Carolina, although the state added 3,000 new jobs to the employment marketplace. The unemployment rate is currently at 9.7 percent, 0.7 percent higher than the national average which is 9 percent.
Why has the unemployment rate remained unchanged when so many jobs have been created? The answer may lie in the 2,300 plus government jobs which have been terminated in an effort to reduce the budget deficit.
Employment opportunities grew the most in transportation, trade and utilities. Although the figures for the month of April are not very encouraging, especially when compared to neighboring state, South Carolina, which boasts unemployment rate reductions of 1 percent in the last month. However, the unemployment rate has dropped significantly since April of 2010, when it was over 11 percent. Since then the number of unemployed workers has dropped by 70,000 workers.
So, what unemployment benefits do North Carolina workers qualify for?
The high unemployment figures North Carolina has guarantees unemployed workers will receive the maximum number of weeks for the Emergency Unemployment Compensation, but due to the decline in unemployment of the last three years will no longer qualify for the Extended Benefits program. How is this possible when the unemployment rate of North Carolina is still above the U.S. average and other states in similar circumstances, such as South Carolina, still qualify for the EB program? Let us explain.
The EUC Program
The EUC program offers up to 53 weeks of benefits. These benefits are divided between 4 tiers. Tiers 1 and 2 are open to all states, while tier 3 is only for states with an unemployment rate of over 6.5 percent, and tier 4 is only for states with an unemployment rate over 8.5 percent. At 9.7 percent, North Carolina qualifies for all 4 tiers.
The EB Program.
The EB program triggers state eligibility on the employment rate of the last three months. If a state shows a decline in the unemployment rate for three months in a row it may be disqualified from further benefits. That is what happened to North Carolina, even though its unemployment is still way over the national average, it has dropped in the last three months. Other states, such as South Carolina, have also seen a reduction in the unemployment rate for the last three months but have passed a law which permits the state government to use the unemployment rates of three years ago which show a marked rise in the jobless rates. North Caroline did not pass this law and therefore NC residents will not qualify for the EB program.
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