Minnesota Unemployment

A Guide to Insurance for Unemployment - Minnesota

In the beginning of 2000, the rate of unemployment in Minnesota was at an all-time of 2.8% for this last decade. However, between then and the summer of 2003, this rate of unemployment went up to 5%. It then decreased and stayed around 4% between the summer of 2005 and the summer of 2006, but it started to increase once more. Between February 2008 and May 2009, the employment shot up from 4.7% to 8.5%. Since then, the unemployment rate as gone down and is at 6.4% as of October 2011.

Apply for Insurance for Unemployment - Minnesota

If you are experiencing unemployment, Minnesota provides the Unemployment Insurance Program, which temporarily provides unemployment benefits to qualified individuals who are out of work for reasons that are not their own fault. The point of the Unemployment Insurance program is to stabilize the economic security within Minnesota. There is no official form for filing for Minnesota unemployment insurance benefits. However, to start your Minnesota unemployment insurance claim, you can either file your claim for unemployment insurance benefits online at uimn.org or by telephone through the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Applicant Self-Service System. You can call either the Twin Cities area at 651-296-3644 or the Greater Minnesota area at 1-877-898-9090. Regardless of what method you choose, you should have the following information ready:

• Your social security number or alien registration number

• Your driver's license or state issued photo ID number

• Your date of birth, address, and telephone number

• Past employers from the last 18 months with information regarding their names, addresses, telephone numbers, rate of pay, and reason why you are no longer employed • If you are a member of a union, the name and number of your union

• Your SF-8 if you were a federal employee at some point during the last 18 months

• Your DD-214 if you were in the military at some point during the last 18 months

• Your bank account number and bank routing number if you wish to receive payments as a direct deposit

Eligibility for Insurance Benefits for Unemployment - Minnesota

In order to be eligible to receive Minnesota unemployment insurance benefits, you must met the following requirements for every week you receive benefits:

• You must be able and willing to accept work immediately in your usual occupation or other employment that is suitable

• You must be willing to look for and accept the commuting distance, wage hours, and other conditions for employment that are typical for someone in your occupation with your experience and skills.

How to Maintain Insurance for Unemployment - Minnesota

Once you file for unemployment insurance benefits, you have up to a year after applying. The maximum amount that you can receive during this period is between 11 and 26 weeks, depending on the wages you received in the base period of your account. However, there are currently two federal extended benefits programs that are in place, the Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program and the Extended Benefits Program. If you are eligible for these programs while you are receiving unemployment insurance benefits, you will already be notified of this. However, at the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012, both programs will be slowly phased out in Minnesota.

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