Businesses to pay more for unemployment as wages rise

By Cy Ryan

Monday, Oct. 3, 2016 | 12:57 p.m.

CARSON CITY — Businesses will pay an average $37 more per worker into the unemployment trust fund next year, under a recommendation of a state council.

The state Employment Security Council voted today to keep the assessment rate the same, but the average wage is predicted to increase.

The rate charged each business is based on the unemployment in that company.

The average rate ranges from 0.25 percent for employers with good worker retention to 5.4 percent.

The average cost will rise from $738 to $775 a year. There are more than 68,000 employers enrolled in the insurance plan.

Renee Olson, administrator of the state Employment Security Division, will make the final decision Dec. 8.

The average weekly payment to an unemployed person will remain at $326, and it must be changed by the Legislature. The benefit is paid for 26 weeks.

Olson said the division has been “doubling down” on its program to get the jobless back to work quicker.

The state fund ran out of money to pay the jobless during the recession and had to borrow from the federal government. The division then issued bonds to repay the government and hopes to retire those bonds in December 2017.

The current average tax rate is 1.95 percent of the worker’s salary. It will remain at that level. Added to that rate is 0.05 percent for the employment training program. And the bond payoff rate adds 0.63 percent, for a total of 2.63 percent.

Olson said the federal government has reduced the administrative payments to the state, and it is the lowest in 30 years. The aim of the state is to increase its unemployment fund to have enough money to meet a possible future recession.

But now the economy is growing. Bill Anderson, chief economist, said the state lost 185,000 jobs during the recession and has now added back 195,000 jobs. Nevada’s average weekly wage for the first quarter of this year was $875, an all-time high, Anderson said.