The Department of Labor (DoL) has released its
report on multi-year study on the positive effects of unemployment insurance on the economy. Important findings:
- For every dollar spent on UI, economic activity increases by two dollars.
- During each quarter of the recent recession, UI benefits kept an average of 1.6 million Americans on the job.
- At the height of the recession, UI benefits averted 1.8 million job losses and kept the unemployment rate approximately 1.2 percentage points lower.
- UI benefits reduced the fall in GDP by 18 percent. Nominal GDP was $175 billion higher in 2009 than it would have been without UI benefits. In total, unemployment insurance kept GDP $315 billion higher from the start of the recession through the second quarter of 2010.
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