The evolution of Idaho’s unemployment insurance program and the policies that led to payment of nearly $4 billion in unemployment benefits to hundreds of thousands of Idaho workers over the past 75 years are outlined in the 2010 edition of the Red Book.
The 38-page report released by Idaho Department of Labor in conjunction with the Labor Day holiday resumes publication of the annual review of the unemployment insurance program that was last compiled in 2003.
From its very beginnings in 1935 through World War II, the near bankruptcy of the trust fund during the 1980s recessions to the fund’s bankruptcy in 2009, the Red Book details the economic theories behind the program and chronicles the policy decisions made over eight decades to shape today’s unemployment insurance program.
Last year alone Idaho's unemployment insurance system helped more than 100,000 jobless workers survive one of the worst economic downturns in state history. The Idaho Department of Labor paid out a record $642 million in regular and federally extended benefits in 2009 to people who were out of work. As of today, the payout amount stands at more than $460 million for the first 35 weeks of 2010.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, every dollar paid in unemployment benefits generates approximately $1.60 in economic activity through purchases spent on food, shelter, utilities and at this time of the year, school supplies.
The Red Book is available on the Department of Labor website at http://labor.idaho.gov/publications/redbook.pdf.