Nevada jobless benefit costs to remain stable

Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2003 | 10:54 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Despite a sluggish economy, Nevada's more than 48,000 employers may enjoy a fourth straight year of stable premiums that pay for jobless benefits.

Birgit Baker, administrator of the state Division of Employment Security, said Monday the employers' trust fund measured $433 million in its yearly test. She said it has passed the solvency standard, which is $373.9 million.

The fund is measured at the end of September each year to see if there will be enough money to pay out weekly unemployment benefits in the coming year.

Employers have paid a rate of .25 percent to 5.4 percent of the first $21,500 of a worker's salary into the fund.

The advisory board of the state Employment Security Division meets Oct. 17 in Carson City with a video relay to Las Vegas to recommend the average rate. The present average rate is 1.29 percent.

Baker said the division last year estimated it would have $431.3 million in the fund as of the end of this month. She said the agency predicted higher payouts than occurred.

The maximum unemployment check now is $317 a week.

The tax rate for an employer is based on worker turnover. About 47 percent of the employers are now paying the lowest rate of .25 percent. And about 3 percent are in the top bracket of 5.4 percent.

All employers also pay an extra 0.5 percent to finance a job-training program.

Baker said the wage base upon which the percentage is paid will rise from $21,500 to $22,000 in January.

The division said the Nevada job market has remained steady since the Iraq war lull in early spring. Nevada ranked third in the nation in job growth from July 2002 to July 2003 with a 1.7 percent increase in jobs.

Nevada ranked behind Hawaii with a 2.3 percent increase in the number of new jobs and New Mexico placed second with 1.8 percent. Nationally the average for the rate of job growth is down 0.3 percent, the agency said.