A State-by-State Look at Unemployment Benefits

A job seeker fills out an application during a National Career Fairs job fair in Chicago on April 22, 2015. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Some states have been cutting back on the benefits offered to unemployed workers. Since the end of the recession, eight states have reduced the duration that people can receive benefits below the traditional length of 26 weeks. Others have reduced the amount of money people can receive or tightened eligibility.

A state-by-state look at the maximum duration of benefits for people who file initial claims after Jan. 1, 2016, the number of people who received benefits in 2015, the total amount of benefits paid and the percent of the unemployed who received benefits in 2015:

State	Maximum Weeks of Benefits 2016	People Receiving Benefits 2015	Benefits Paid 2015	Percent of Unemployed Receiving Benefits
Alabama	26	101,557	$204,977,602	18.2 percent
Alaska	26	41,821	$123,460,581	36.6 percent
Arizona	26	115,804	$290,381,061	16.9 percent
Arkansas	20	89,121	$240,518,410	30.5 percent
California	26	1,481,339	$5,456,325,870	32.5 percent
Colorado	26	129,734	$535,969,686	26.5 percent
Connecticut	26	184,853	$712,468,042	39.1 percent
Delaware	26	26,437	$78,543,180	31.5 percent
District of Columbia	26	32,290	$117,139,477	15.0 percent
Florida	12	269,764	$518,071,340	12.0 percent
Georgia	14	242,935	$420,882,157	13.9 percent
Hawaii	26	34,456	$157,488,120	30.5 percent
Idaho	26	47,910	$104,107,846	27.6 percent
Illinois	26	491,362	$1,861,952,303	31.0 percent
Indiana	26	137,070	$350,574,333	17.6 percent
Iowa	26	134,661	$422,378,794	36.3 percent
Kansas	16	85,404	$261,732,832	24.9 percent
Kentucky	26	96,534	$339,150,250	23.2 percent
Louisiana	26	79,661	$204,389,699	16.7 percent
Maine	26	45,308	$117,992,637	29.0 percent
Maryland	26	167,668	$574,118,089	26.2 percent
Massachusetts	30	301,394	$1,524,059,653	42.5 percent
Michigan	20	361,114	$826,572,215	26.2 percent
Minnesota	26	200,247	$779,169,999	40.6 percent
Mississippi	26	55,390	$102,871,141	17.3 percent
Missouri	13	173,056	$337,601,309	21.6 percent
Montana	28	39,564	$108,636,802	38.9 percent
Nebraska	26	36,571	$86,814,131	25.7 percent
Nevada	26	99,930	$359,603,389	27.4 percent
New Hampshire	26	26,808	$67,636,762	19.5 percent
New Jersey	26	446,526	$2,089,483,818	41.8 percent
New Mexico	26	49,057	$189,277,313	21.8 percent
New York	26	715,553	$2,426,793,648	34.2 percent
North Carolina	13	155,305	$282,968,604	12.8 percent
North Dakota	26	34,332	$170,402,575	37.5 percent
Ohio	26	299,452	$977,451,509	23.5 percent
Oklahoma	26	78,332	$344,855,622	26.8 percent
Oregon	26	148,441	$524,116,736	30.4 percent
Pennsylvania	26	601,762	$2,262,784,886	43.2 percent
Rhode Island	26	48,869	$160,437,411	32.9 percent
South Carolina	20	86,055	$156,610,923	12.7 percent
South Dakota	26	10,069	$25,574,891	13.0 percent
Tennessee	26	133,539	$279,141,953	14.8 percent
Texas	26	646,062	$2,847,508,360	28.2 percent
Utah	26	54,961	$174,427,517	21.2 percent
Vermont	26	25,362	$73,059,734	38.7 percent
Virginia	26	130,514	$405,356,456	15.2 percent
Washington	26	252,331	$1,009,052,759	27.6 percent
West Virginia	26	71,666	$228,311,949	29.6 percent
Wisconsin	26	244,956	$584,994,842	36.1 percent
Wyoming	26	21,133	$94,019,099	32.2 percent

Source: Information about the number and percent of people receiving benefits and the total benefits paid was prepared for The Associated Press by the Division of Fiscal and Actuarial Services in the Office of Unemployment Insurance of the U.S. Department of Labor.

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