Florida companies will have to pay far more into the unemployment system to provide for the rising costs of unemployment compensation. This is expected to create yet another problem for struggling businesses.
The Florida Revenue Department said that employers now paying the lowest rate will see a rise in their tax from $8.40 per employee to $100.30. Currently there are 667,000 of the state's one million unemployed people receiving benefits and the state needs to find more money to pay for these benefits. The most any unemployed person can receive is $300 per week. Last year at this time, Florida had $1.3 billion saved in a trust fund to cover unemployment benefits. But with the unemployment rate at 11 percent, this fund is now empty. Since August, the state has been borrowing from the federal government to continue paying benefits. Under Florida law, the deficit created by this borrowing will create an automatic tax increase for next year. Employers who fire large numbers of people may pay the maximum rate of $378 to $459 per employee.
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