Michigan's Troubled Trust Fund

Michigan turned to short-term federal loans in 2006 and 2007 to tide its trust fund over, before going permanently insolvent early in 2008. An unemployment rate persistently over the national average is the main culprit here. Michigan has one of the nation's highest unemployment insurance tax rates, and no plans to increase it. But that doesn't mean businesses are off the hook: Because of Michigan's chronic indebtedness, the federal government is assessing a $21 surcharge per worker.

This news application is no longer being updated as of February 3, 2011. The historical data is still accurate.

  Bankrupt and Borrowing: Michigan's unemployment fund is currently bankrupt and Michigan is borrowing from the federal government.

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Borrowed Amount Unemployment Rate (November) Net Income (December) Avg. Weekly Benefit % of Unemployed
Receiving Benefits
$3,697.0m 11.3% $-52.1m $301.3 29.0%
National: 9% Rank: 34 of 51 Rank: 25 of 51 Rank: 42 of 51

Unemployment Reserves (millions)

Reporters: You are free to use this data to report your stories. Just remember to credit Propublica. Here's a CSV Download of our unemployment data. (Last update February 02, 2011)

Sources: Google Public Data, Department of Labor, Treasury Department.