Maximum Unemployment Benefits In State To Rise

WETHERSFIELD (AP) — Connecticut’s Labor Department says the maximum unemployment insurance benefit is rising to $573 a week.

The $18 increase is to take effect Sunday. The benefit is set by the state legislature and is based on average manufacturing wages.

An increase is limited by law to $18 a year, or 60 percent of the average wage, whichever is less.

For the year ending August 31, regular jobless benefits averaged $301 a week and claimants received compensation for an average 19.6 weeks, which do not include federal extensions.

The unemployed used to get 26 weeks of benefits.

During the recession, Congress extended it to as much as 99 weeks — almost two years — in states such as Connecticut where unemployment is high.

The jobless rate in Connecticut was nine percent in August.