Michigan unemployment pay to increase by $84 a week

Lansing — The duration and amount of Michigan's unemployment benefits will increase Wednesday under legislation the Democratic-led House and Senate approved last year.

The maximum benefit amount per week will increase by $84 or 23% from $362 to $446, and the maximum number of weeks an individual can receive unemployment will increase from 20 to 26 per year.

Wednesday will mark the first increase to Michigan's unemployment since 2002.

"Increasing these benefits is a step in the right direction to help those navigating a sudden job loss to get back on their feet and to have financial support as they seek new employment," said Susan Corbin, director for the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

Under the legislation passed last year, the maximum weekly benefit will increase again in 2026 to $530 and in 2027 to $614. After that, the weekly benefit will be adjusted by the state treasurer based on the national Consumer Price Index.

The new law also increases the amount for up to five dependents from the current rate of $6 per dependent to $12.66 each on Wednesday, $19.33 each in 2026 and $26 each in 2027.

The increase will apply to claims filed on April 2 or later. But the Unemployment Insurance Agency plans to review active claims between Jan. 1 and April 2 on a case-by-case basis to determine whether they should have received a higher benefit or dependent amounts.

That review will be conducted due to language in the law calling for the higher rate to be effective Jan. 1; because the law was not given immediate effect by the Legislature, it could not technically take effect until April 2, 90 days after the end of session.

Those increased payments will be drawn from the state's Unemployment Trust Fund, which currently stands at about $2.7 billion.

The trust fund still is rebuilding from an onslaught of claims during the COVID pandemic, when stay at home orders shut down businesses across the state and forced millions of residents into the unemployment system. Prior to the pandemic, in September 2019, the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund stood at about $4.7 billion, according to state data. By March 2021, the trust fund had reached a low of roughly $513,000.

The state's maximum number of weeks on unemployment was slashed from 26 to 20 in 2011 by Republican then-Gov. Rick Snyder, and remained the 20-week cap for roughly 13 years.

Most Michigan Republican lawmakers opposed the bills when they made their way through the Legislature last year, and the state branch of the National Federal of Independent Business noted the maximum length of benefits were reduced in 2011 to fix a financial hole in the unemployment system.

The nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency has said the six-week extension of benefits alone would have increased the total amount of payouts over the last year in Michigan by $76.3 million to $104.5 million. The total payouts over the last year were $763.1 million, the agency said.

Michigan's unemployment rate hit 5.4% in February, growing a tenth of a percentage point in January, according to the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget. The state's unemployment rate has made the largest jump in the nation from a year ago, rising 1.4 percentage points from 4.0% in February 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

eleblanc@detroitnews.com

Staff writer Craig Mauger contributed.