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Temporary 2010 extended benefits look-back and nonreduction rule
Summary ETA explained a temporary option for states to compare current unemployment rates with the preceding three years when determining extended benefit periods. It also reminded states of the EUC08 nonreduction rule and supplied draft legislation and revised reporting instructions. ETA still lists this change as Active, though its cited temporary periods ended in 2011 and 2012; current applicability is unclear.
Document
Federal guidance
Agency
U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA)
Document number
UIPL No. 04-10, Change 7
Date issued
December 23, 2010
Status
Unknown
ETA lists this change Active as of 2026-10-24 and the PDF prints “Continuing,” but its optional three-year look-back authority ended December 31, 2011 and its EUC08 period ended in 2012. Current applicability is unclear.
Status last verified October 24, 2026
Apply this to your situation
This page explains the general guidance. Ask about your specific situation and see what current federal labor law says, with citations.
About this page: The full text below is the official document from U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA). Ezel adds the plain-English summary and tracks the document's status. The official source linked on this page is authoritative for any reliance.
2010/UIPL04-10_Ch7acc.pdf (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/UIPL/2010/UIPL04-10_Ch7acc.pdf)
CLASSIFICATION
EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION Extended Benefits and EUC
ADVISORY SYSTEM CORRESPONDENCE SYMBOL
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR OUI/DL
Washington, D.C. 20210 DATE
December 23, 2010
ADVISORY: UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE PROGRAM LETTER NO. 04-10,
Change 7
TO: STATE WORKFORCE AGENCIES
FROM: JANE OATES /s/
Assistant Secretary
SUBJECT: Extended Benefits Program – Temporary Changes made by the Tax Relief,
Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010,
and Reminder of the Continuation of the Emergency Unemployment
Compensation Nonreduction Rule
1. Purpose. To provide additional information about the temporary changes to the federal-state
extended benefits (EB) program made by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance
Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, and remind states of the continuation of the
Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) nonreduction rule.
2. References. Sections 501 and 502 of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization,
and Job Creation Act of 2010, P.L. 111-312; the Federal-State Extended Unemployment
Compensation Act of 1970 (“EB law”), 26 U.S.C. 3304 note; 26 U.S.C. 3304(a)(11); 20 CFR Part
615; Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL) No. 45-92; UIPL No. 4-10, changes 3 and
6; UIPL No. 24-10; and Employment and Training Administration (ETA) 539 Report (OMB
number 1205-0028).
3. Summary of EB Changes. P.L. 111-312 permits states to amend their laws to temporarily
modify the provisions concerning EB “on” and “off” indicators. Specifically, it permits
states to make determinations of whether there is an EB “on” or “off” indicator by comparing
current unemployment rates to the unemployment rates for the corresponding period in the
three preceding years. This comparison is called a “look-back”. (Under permanent EB law,
the look-back compares current unemployment rates to rates in the previous two years.) This
modification to the look-back provisions will enable many states to remain “on” EB much
longer. This authority expires on December 31, 2011. This UIPL provides:
RESCISSIONS EXPIRATION DATE
None Continuing
-2-
Additional information about this optional temporary change to the EB program.
Draft legislation that states may use when enacting legislation to implement it.
Revised reporting instructions for the ETA 539.
4. EB Background. Permanent EB law establishes “on” or “off” indicators to determine when
EB periods begin and end in a state. To ensure that EB is only payable during periods of high
and rising unemployment, both the mandatory indicator based on the insured unemployment
rate (IUR) and the optional indicator based on the total unemployment rate (TUR) include
look-back requirements. Under the mandatory IUR indicator (section 203(d) of the EB law),
a state will begin and remain in an EB period (under which up to 13 weeks of EB is available)
if the IUR for the previous 13 weeks is at least 5 percent and equals or exceeds 120 percent of
the average of the rates for the corresponding period in each of the two previous years. Under
the optional TUR indicator (section 203(f) of the EB law), a state will begin and remain in an
EB period (under which up to 13 weeks of EB is available) if the average seasonally adjusted
TUR for the most recent three months is at least 6.5 percent and equals or exceeds 110 percent
of the rate for the corresponding three-month period in either or both of the two previous
years. Additionally, under the optional TUR indicator, a state will begin and remain in a high
unemployment period (section 202(b)(3)(B) of the EB law)(under which up to 20 total weeks
of EB is available) if the TUR is at least 8.0 percent and equals or exceeds 110 percent of the
rate for the corresponding 3-month period in either or both of the two previous years.
Under permanent EB law, because of sustained high unemployment rates during the last two
years, many states are expected to trigger “off” EB based on the TUR indicator by early
spring 2011. Even though states’ TURs are expected to remain high enough to continue to
meet the first requirement of an EB “on indicator” (i.e., a TUR of at least 6.5 percent), they
would not likely continue to meet the look-back requirement because the average seasonally
adjusted TUR for the most recent three months would no longer equal or exceed 110 percent
of the rate for the corresponding three-month period in either or both of the two previous
years.
To enable states to remain “on” EB, section 502 of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance
Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 amends the EB law to permit states to use a
three-year look-back for the mandatory IUR and/or optional TUR indicator. (In general,
unemployment rates three years ago were low enough to meet the look-back requirements for
the EB “on” indicators.) This optional authority applies only to weeks of unemployment
beginning after December 17, 2010, through weeks of unemployment ending on or before
December 31, 2011. Since EB is payable under state law, states must amend the EB
provisions in their laws to apply the three-year look-back when determining EB “on” or “off”
indicators. States that want to use the three-year look-back should ensure this provision is
effective before they would trigger “off” EB based on the two-year look-back. Otherwise, the
state must remain “off” EB for at least 13 weeks, as required by section 203(b)(1)(B) of the
EB law.
-3-
Attachment I offers draft legislation for the convenience of states wishing to adopt the
temporary three-year look-back.
5. EB Reporting. States that adopt the three-year look-back provision for the IUR indicator
will need to modify the reporting of the ETA 539 to reflect the actual number of prior years
used in the calculation of the look-back percentage. Current guidance for the ETA 539 only
allows for two years in the computation of the average rate in prior years, referred to as “AR”
and defined on page I-1-14 of current reporting guidance. Revised guidance, provided in
Attachment II, provides for states to use the appropriate number of prior years in the
computation of the look-back percentage. It also requires states to report in the “comments”
section the effective date of an enacted three-year look-back provision for any indicator.
These instructions have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget as a non-
substantive change to the existing ETA 539 collection.
6. EUC08 Nonreduction Rule Reminder. Section 501 of the Tax Relief, Unemployment
Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 extends the phase-out period and
expiration date of the EUC08 program. As outlined in UIPL No. 04-10, Change 3, a state’s
EUC08 agreement will no longer apply and EUC08 will not be payable in a state if the U.S.
Department of Labor determines that the method governing the computation of regular
compensation under the state law has been modified in a manner such that the average weekly
benefit amount of regular compensation which will be payable during the period of the
agreement will be less than the average weekly benefit amount of regular compensation which
would otherwise have been payable during such period under the state law in effect on June 2,
2010. The period of the agreement includes EUC08 phase-out, which is currently set to
expire on June 9, 2012. States considering modification of the method governing the
computation of regular compensation that would be inconsistent with this rule should ensure
that such amendments to their law become effective after this date. For additional
information about the applicability of the nonreduction rule, see UIPL No. 24-10.
7. Action Requested. State administrators should distribute this advisory to appropriate staff.
8. Inquiries. Questions should be addressed to your Regional Office.
9. Attachments.
Attachment I – Draft Legislation – Temporary Three-Year “Look-back”
Attachment II – Pending Update to HB401 Guidance for the ETA 539
2010/UIPL04-10_Ch7a1.pdf (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/UIPL/2010/UIPL04-10_Ch7a1.pdf)
ATTACHMENT I
DRAFT LEGISLATION – TEMPORARY THREE-YEAR “LOOK-BACK”
DISCUSSION
Below is suggested legislative language for states that choose to amend their extended benefits
(EB) law to provide for a temporary three-year “look-back” when determining “on” and “off”
indicators as provided in Section 502 of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance
Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, P.L. 111-312. This language supplements the
draft language for subparagraphs (a)(2)(A) and (C) transmitted in Attachment II to UIPL No. 45-
92 by creating a new subsection (b).
This suggested legislative language pertains to both the mandatory insured unemployment rate
(IUR) indicator and the optional total unemployment rate (TUR) indicator. Although, in general,
states are currently “on” EB through the TUR indicator, states, particularly those with temporary
TUR indicators, may want to adopt the language pertaining to the IUR indicator as well as the
TUR indicator language. (If authority for the three-year look-back is extended beyond
December 31, 2011, it would be possible to remain “on” EB through the IUR indicator after
states’ temporary TUR indicators expire due to lack of continued 100 percent Federal funding of
most EB costs.) States that have not been “on” EB during this recession may not wish to adopt
any of this language, as it would have no practical effect.
There are two parts of the suggested legislative language that states may want to customize—the
effective date and expiration date of this provision. The effective date was written to become
effective upon enactment of P.L. 111-312. The bracketed bold language following is an
alternative effective date based on the date established under state law, if it is later than the date
of enactment of P.L. 111-312. The expiration date was written to mirror the current statutory
end date for the three-year “look-back” – December 31, 2011. The bracketed bold language
following provides an alternative, based on the possibility that Congress will extend this
provision. It ties expiration of the provision to the date Congress chooses. There also are
placeholders in bold for insertion of citations to the appropriate sections of the state’s code.
DRAFT LANGUAGE
(b)(1) With respect to compensation for weeks of unemployment beginning after date of
enactment of P.L. 111-312 [or, if later, the date established under State law], and ending on
or before December 31, 2011 [or the date established in Federal law permitting this
provision]--
(A)(i)(I) there is a State "on" indicator for a week if the average rate of insured
unemployment under section XX of the state’s code for the period consisting of such week and
the immediately preceding twelve weeks equals or exceeds 5 percent, and
(II) the average rate of insured unemployment under section XX of the state’s code for
the period consisting of such week and the immediately preceding twelve weeks equals or
exceeds 120 percent of the average of such rates for the corresponding 13-week period ending in
each of the preceding three calendar years;
(ii) there is a State "off" indicator for a week based on the rate of insured unemployment
only if for the period consisting of such week and the immediately preceding twelve weeks,
paragraph (1)(A)(i) does not result in an "on" indicator.
(B)(i)(I) there is a State "on" indicator for a week if the average rate of total unemployment
(seasonally adjusted), as determined by the United States Secretary of Labor, for the period
consisting of the most recent 3 months for which data for all States are published before the
close of such week equals or exceeds 6.5 percent, and
(II) the average rate of total unemployment in the State (seasonally adjusted), as
determined by the United States Secretary of Labor, for the 3-month period referred to in
subclause (I), equals or exceeds 110 percent of such average for any or all of the corresponding
3-month periods ending in the 3 preceding calendar years;
(III) there is a “high unemployment period” as provided in section YY of the state’s
code if subclause (I) were applied by substituting “8 percent” for “6.5 percent”;
(ii) there is a State "off" indicator for a week based on the rate of total unemployment
only if for the period consisting of the most recent 3 months for which data for all States are
published before the close of such week, paragraph (1)(B)(i) does not result in an "on" indicator.
2010/UIPL04-10_Ch7a2.pdf (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/advisories/UIPL/2010/UIPL04-10_Ch7a2.pdf)
UI REPORTS HANDBOOK NO. 401
ETA 539 Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data
ATTACHMENT II
CONTENTS
A. Facsimile of Form .........................................................................................I-1-3
1. ETA 539 Screen......................................................................................I-1-3
2. Recommended Worksheet......................................................................I-1-4
B. Purpose..........................................................................................................l-1-5
C. Due Date and Transmittal .............................................................................l-1-5
D. General Reporting Instructions ...................................................................l-1-5
1. Interstate Claims .....................................................................................I-1-5
2. Initial Claims............................................................................................I-1-6
3. Continued Weeks Claimed......................................................................I-1-6
4. Adjustment of Data..................................................................................I-1-6
5. Checking the Report ...............................................................................I-1-7
E. Definitions......................................................................................................l-1-7
1. Federal-State UI Extended Compensation Program ...............................I-1-7
2. State UI Additional Compensation Program............................................I-1-7
3. Shot Time Compensation Program .........................................................I-1-7
4. State UI Regular Compensation Program ...............................................I-1-8
5. State Extended Benefit Period ................................................................I-1-8
6. 13-Week Period ......................................................................................I-1-8
7. Week Numbers .......................................................................................I-1-8
8. Comparison Weeks.................................................................................I-1-8
9. Covered Employment..............................................................................I-1-8
10. Determination of State Extended Benefit Period ....................................I-1-9
F. Item by Item Instructions..............................................................................I-1-12
1. IC ............................................................................................................I-1-13
2. FIC ..........................................................................................................I-1-13
3. XIC ..........................................................................................................I-1-13
4. WSIC.......................................................................................................I-1-13
5. WSEIC ....................................................................................................I-1-13
6. CW ..........................................................................................................I-1-13
7. FCW ........................................................................................................I-1-13
8. XCW........................................................................................................I-1-13
9. WSCW ....................................................................................................I-1-13
10. WSECW ..................................................................................................I-1-13
11. EBT .........................................................................................................I-1-13
12. EBUI........................................................................................................I-1-13
13. ABT .........................................................................................................I-1-13
14. ABUI........................................................................................................I-1-13
15. AT ...........................................................................................................I-1-13
16. CE ...........................................................................................................I-1-14
17. R .............................................................................................................I-1-14
18. AR ...........................................................................................................I-1-14
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4/2007
UI REPORTS HANDBOOK NO. 401
ETA 539 Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data
19. P..............................................................................................................I-1-14
20. Status ......................................................................................................I-1-15
21. Status Change Date................................................................................I-1-15
22. Comments...............................................................................................I-1-15
G. Standby Emergency Reporting ....................................................................I-1-16
H. Recommended Worksheet ...........................................................................I-1-16
I-1-2
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UI REPORTS HANDBOOK NO. 401
ETA 539 Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data
A. Facsimile of Forms
1. ETA 539 Screen
ETA 539 - CLAIMS AND EXTENDED BENEFITS DATA
STATE REGION REPORT FOR PERIOD ENDING
Week Number: Reflected Week Ending:
IC: FIC: XIC: WSIC: WSEIC:
CW: FCW: XCW: WSCW: WSECW:
EBT: EBUI: ABT: ABUI:
AT: CE: R: AR: P:
STATUS: STATUS CHANGE DATE:
Comments:
OMB No.: 1205-0028 OMB Expiration Date: 09/30/2012 Average Response Time: 50 minutes
O M B Burden Statement: These reporting instructions have been approved under the Paperwork reduction Act of 1995. Persons
are not required to respond to this collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden
for this collection of information includes the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Submission is required to obtain or retain
benefits under SSA 303(a)(6). Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information,
including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance, Room S-4231,
200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC, 20210.
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UI REPORTS HANDBOOK NO. 401
ETA 539 Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data
2. Recommended Worksheet
RECOMMENDED WORKSHEET FOR THE TRIGGER PORTION OF THE ETA 539
For states using a two year look-back, enter zero into column 11 of the worksheet below. For states
using a three year look-back, enter the rate from the third year into column 11 of the worksheet below.
The calculations in columns 12 and 13 will be identical regardless of the number of years in the state
look-back.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)
Insured 13 Week Average
Insured Total Rate Rate Rate Rate
Week Unemployment Total 13 Week Rate for
WK Unemployment Insured Covered Current 13 First Second Third Percent
End STC Current (4) Average Prior years
NO Regular Unemployment Employment Week year Prior Prior Prior (8)/(12)
Date Equivocal + prior 12 (5)/13 { (9) + (10)
(CW) (2) + (3) (6)/(7) Year Year Year
(WSECW) weeks + (11) } / 3
01
02
03
04
.
.
.
.
50
51
52
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UI REPORTS HANDBOOK NO. 401
ETA 539 Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data
B. Purpose
The Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (Title II of
Public Law 91-373, Employment Security Amendments of 1970) and amendments
govern the triggering on or off of the Extended Benefit (EB) program. This report
serves as the state Administrator's initial notice to the Employment and Training
Administration (ETA) National Office that a state extended benefit period will begin
or end for a specified week. Subchapter 5724, Part V of the ES Manual, contains
additional instructions for a letter from the state agency head to the Secretary of
Labor stating the date of the beginning or ending of a state extended benefit
period. That letter, along with this report, will enable the ETA National Office to
confirm that an extended benefit period will begin or end in an individual state, and
will enable the Secretary to have published in the Federal Register the notices
required by the Act.
The claims data contained on the ETA 539 report are used in current economic
analysis of unemployment trends in the Nation, and in each state. Initial claims
measure emerging unemployment and continued weeks claimed measure the
number of the insured unemployed. These data are published in ETA's weekly
release "Unemployment Insurance Claims." The comments on claims activity are
used to explain the changes in the levels of the data reported from week to week.
C. Due Date and Transmittal
Weekly reports shall be submitted in time to reach the ETA National Office by the
opening of business Thursday following the week in which the claims were filed. If
necessary to meet the due date, any state agency may cut off its report period at
noon Friday.
This report will be transmitted electronically. If electronic transmittal is not
possible, the data should be phoned or faxed into the ETA National Office.
D. General Reporting Instructions
1. Interstate Claims. Some liable states have claims taking arrangements with
one or more agent states where a considerable number of claimants reside
whose work prior to unemployment was in the liable state. These
arrangements may consist of liable state staff taking interstate claims on its
claims forms in one or more agent state's local offices; agent state staff taking
related interstate claims on the liable state's claims forms; or terminals are
used to enter claims directly into liable state's automated reporting system. In
these arrangements, interstate claims should be counted as agent interstate
claims for the purposes of ETA 539 by the agent state from which the claim is
filed.
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UI REPORTS HANDBOOK NO. 401
ETA 539 Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data
2. Initial Claims. Initial claims reported should consist of intrastate initial claims
and interstate initial claims filed from the agent state. This count of interstate
agent initial claims includes those taken by the agent state and those reported
to the agent state as having been taken directly by the liable state.
3. Continued Weeks Claimed. This figure represents the insured unemployed in
the reporting state and is used for economic purposes. The counts of
continued weeks claimed for all unemployment benefit programs described in
section E. consist of intrastate and interstate continued weeks claimed filed
from the agent state whether actually taken by the agent state or reported
back to the agent state by liable states. Interstate weeks claimed reported to
the agent state by liable states should represent the total interstate weeks
claimed to be included in this report as all claims filed from the agent state
because the figures reported by the liable state include those claims taken
directly by the agent state.
Counts of weeks compensated or of checks issued, or of processed weeks
claimed should not be substituted for any part of the continued weeks claimed
count unless rigid processing schedules are adhered to so that the count is
not affected by administrative factors and does reflect the count of weeks
claimed. Automated systems using proxy counts must be modified to gather
the interstate agent state count, not the interstate liable weeks claimed count.
Continued weeks claimed should include weeks that benefits were claimed,
even though such benefits were not paid or payment status is uncertain or
unknown, e.g., waiting weeks, partial weeks, weeks for which denials are
being served (when this is a local office reporting requirement) and weeks for
which a monetary or nonmonetary issue is pending. The figures should
reflect, as closely as possible, the normal seasonal level of claims activity.
They should be adjusted as much as possible for administrative factors such
as holiday rescheduling, the beginning or ending of biweekly reporting and
reporting disruptions because of non-economic factors or emergencies such
as computer failure, floods, fires, storms, etc.
4. Adjustment of Data. When claimants' filing dates for continued claims are
rescheduled by the local office to a week other than their "normal" reporting
week, or the state agency reschedules claimants from weekly to biweekly
reporting, the counts of continued weeks claimed will often be affected.
Estimates of continued weeks claimed under the UI, UCFE, UCX, and other
programs should be made for each item and reported on the ETA 539 for
each week that claims counts are thus affected. Because of the importance
of accurate economic representation of the claims counts, only figures
adjusted for non-economic distortions should be submitted. Adjustments of
the weeks claimed should be made separately for each program. Only these
adjusted figures should be reported on this report. Particular care should be
taken to adjust biweekly data to eliminate the application of judgmental
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UI REPORTS HANDBOOK NO. 401
ETA 539 Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data
factors. This is easily accomplished by relying upon the application of
predetermined allocation or proration rules. Worksheets supporting these
adjustments should be retained for future statistical audits.
For those weeks when continued weeks claimed were adjusted, the
unadjusted figures should not be reported. That is, for each report week, only
the adjusted continued weeks claims should be reported.
5. Checking the Report. Entries should be made for all items. IC and CW
figures should be compared with the same figures in the prior week and any
large differences explained in the comments section if possible. If no activity
corresponding to the items occurred during the report period, a zero should
be entered. A report containing missing data can not be sent to the National
Office but can be stored on the state's system. Edit checks can be found in
Handbook 402, Unemployment Insurance Required Reports User’s Manual,
Appendix C.
E. Definitions
Except as noted below, definitions will be the same as those used in the UI
program and found in the instructions for the ETA 5159, section I-2 of this
handbook.
1. Federal-State UI Extended Compensation Program. A program to pay
extended compensation to an individual:
a. For weeks of unemployment beginning in an extended benefit period.
b. Under those provisions of a state law which satisfy the requirements of
Title II of the Employment Security Amendments of 1970, as amended.
This excludes compensation payable under the UCFE and UCX program.
2. State UI Additional Compensation Program. A program totally financed by a
state to pay additional compensation under a state law to exhaustees by
reason of conditions of high unemployment or other special factor.
3. Short-Time Compensation (STC) Program (also known as Worksharing). A
program to pay benefits to those in an approved state short-time
compensation or worksharing program.
a. Short-Time Compensation Equivalent Initial Claims. This is the equivalent
of the full time layoff initial claims that would have taken place if not for the
STC program. This should be based on the employer's agreement with
the state as to the proportion of hours STC claimants from their firm are
being reduced. That is, if the agreement is for a 20 percent reduction in
each STC claimant's hours, then each of these claimants’ initial claims
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UI REPORTS HANDBOOK NO. 401
ETA 539 Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data
would represent 20 percent of an equivalent full time layoff initial claim.
Include any residual initial claims which result from a crossover from the
STC program to the regular program.
b. Short-Time Compensation Equivalent Continued Weeks Claimed. This is
based on the proportion of the week being claimed. That is, if two STC
claimants each claimed 1/5th of a week and another STC claimant
claimed 2/5ths of a week, the equivalent continued weeks claimed for the
three claimants would be 4/5ths or .8 weeks.
4. State UI Regular Compensation Program. A program to pay compensation
under any state unemployment compensation law other than extended,
additional compensation or STC; and excluding compensation payable
pursuant to 5 U.S.C., chapter 85.
5. State Extended Benefit Period. A payment period when Federal-State UI
extended compensation is paid in a state because of the state indicator for
that state.
6. 13-Week Period. The 13-week period referred to in section 9. below, includes
weeks of unemployment experienced during a given calendar week and the
12 immediately preceding calendar weeks. Conceptually, weeks claimed
during a week reflect insured unemployment in the prior week, so the 13-
week period of unemployment will always end 1 week prior to the week in
which the claims were filed.
7. Week Numbers. The first week of unemployment in the year (i.e., week one
appearing in Trigger Notice YY-1) is considered the week containing January
1. Note that week one in a year represents the second report for the year,
i.e., weeks claimed for the second week in the year which represent insured
unemployment during the first week in the year.
8. Comparison Weeks. For the purpose of determining the corresponding 13-
week period ending in each of the preceding calendar years, each calendar
week shall be identified by the date (calendar month and day of the month) on
which it ends. For any specific calendar week, the date of the comparable
week in the immediately preceding calendar year is determined by adding
one (1) to the date of the end of the specific week, or by adding two (2) if the
date of the end of the specific week is February 29, or if a February 29 falls
between the beginning date of the week which contains the date established
by the addition of one to the specific week, and the ending date of the specific
week.
9. Covered Employment. The covered employment figure used to determine the
insured unemployment rate includes all employment covered by state law
including private sector employment, employment in covered state and local
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UI REPORTS HANDBOOK NO. 401
ETA 539 Weekly Claims and Extended Benefits Trigger Data
government establishments and in nonprofit organizations whether the
establishment is paying contributions or reimbursing for benefits. It excludes
employment in Federal Government establishments.
The covered employment figure used for this report is always the 12-month
average covered employment for the first 4 of the last 6 complete calendar
quarters prior to the end of the last calendar week of the current 13-week
period to which the insured unemployment data relate. As stated in 6. above,
the 13-week period for insured unemployment will always end 1 week prior to
the end of the week in which the claims were filed. (For determining the
proper covered employment figure, the end of the week should always be
considered to be a Saturday.) For example, the report for the week ending
April 1, 2006 (due in the ETA National Office on April 6, 2006), would relate to
insured unemployment for the period ending March 25, 2006. Since this latter
date is still in the first calendar quarter, the covered employment figure
included on the report and used in the rate calculations would be the figure for
the 12-month period ending June 2005. The covered employment figure for
the 12-month period ending September 30, 2005 would first be reported and
used on the report for the week ending April 8, 2006 (due in the National
Office by April 13, 2006, relating to the insured unemployment for the week
ending April 1, 2006).
When the figure on covered employment for a quarter has been used in
computing a rate of insured unemployment under P.L. 91-373, as amended,
which triggers a state "on" or "off", the figure is frozen so far as trigger rate
computations are concerned, and cannot be revised.
10. Determination of State Extended Benefit Period. Each week the state agency
must determine whether a state extended benefit period will begin, will end, or
whether there will be no change. The state indicator is the primary factor in
making this determination, subject to the limitation that a state extended
benefit period, once begun, continues for a minimum of 13 weeks, and once
ended, must not begin again for 13 weeks. There must be an interval of at
least 13 weeks between the beginning and the end of one extended benefit
period or, between the end of one and the beginning of a next extended
benefit period based on the state indicator.
The final items on the ETA 539 report are the notification of the status of the
state extended benefit period and the date of change of status. In addition to
this report, a letter of confirmation of the beginning or ending of a state
extended benefit period must be sent in accordance with instructions in the
Employment Security Manual, Part V section 5700.
a. Beginning an EB Period. There are two ways a state may trigger "on"
using the insured unemployment rate (IUR). First, an extended benefits
period begins when all three of the following indicator conditions are met:
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(1) R as described in F.17 below is 5.00 percent or over; and
(2) P as described in F.19 below is 120 percent or over; and
(3) State extended benefit payments have not been paid for at least 12
weeks including the current report week, so that there will have been
at least 13 weeks of nonpayment before the week benefit payments
begin.
A State must have the above trigger in it’s law to be in conformity.
Alternatively, under the Unemployment Compensation Amendments of
1976, a state has the option to modify its "on" trigger criteria based on the
insured unemployment rate (IUR) if appropriate state legislative action is
taken. The amendments combined with those in the Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1981 provide that with respect to compensation for
weeks of unemployment beginning September 25, 1982 (or, if later, the
date established pursuant to state law), a state may by law determine
whether there has been a state "on" indicator beginning an extended
benefit period provided the following two indicator conditions are met.
(1) R as described in F.17. below is 6.00 percent or over.
(2) State extended benefit payments have not been paid for at least 12
weeks including the current report week, so that there will have been
at least 13 weeks of nonpayment before the week benefit payments
begin.
EB law also allows states the option of using a trigger based on the total
rate of unemployment as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Report the beginning of a state extended benefit period as the first week
payable in the period using the Sunday date (or first day of the week as
defined in state UI Law) to designate the beginning of the third week
following the end of the insured week (the 13th week of a 13-week period
for which an "on" determination is made) and 2 weeks from the end of the
report week in which the claims were filed provided the above indicator
conditions are met.
Example: If a state indicator was "on" (i.e., both R and P criteria as
defined above are met) for the 13-week period ending December 4, 2010,
the extended benefit period would begin on the first day of the third
calendar week thereafter, namely, December 19, 2010. Therefore, the
ETA 539 report for the week ending December 11, 2010, which represents
insured unemployment for the week ending December 4, 2010, and is due
in the ETA National Office by the opening of business on Thursday,
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December 16, 2010, would read "Status Change - B" and "Change Date
12/19/2010".
Example: Assume that a state had been paying extended benefits for at
least 13 weeks and the state indicator was first "off" (i.e., either R or P as
defined above is not met) for the week ending November 13, 2010. This
first extended benefit period would therefore end on the last day of the
third week thereafter, namely, December 4, 2010. (Note that the minimum
13-week extended benefit period could be for a longer period.) Since no
extended benefit period may begin before the 14th week after the close of
a prior extended benefit period, the earliest date a second extended
benefit period could begin would be March 6, 2011, provided a state
indicator were "on" for the week ending February 19, 2011. The ETA 539
report for the week ending February 26, 2011, which represents insured
unemployment for the week ending February 19, 2011, is due in the ETA
National Office by the opening of business on Thursday, March 3, 2011,
and this report would read "Status change - B" and "Change Date -
03/06/2011", that is March 6, 2011.
b. Ending an EB Period. A state would report the ending of a state extended
benefit period as the last week payable in the period using the Saturday
date (or the last day of the week as defined in state UI law) to designate
the close of the 3rd week following the end of the insured week (the 13th
week of a 12-week period for which an "off" determination is made) and 2
weeks from the end of the report week in which the claims were filed
provided item (1) below and either item (2) or (3) are met.
(1) State extended benefit payments have been paid for at least 12
weeks including the current week so that there will have been at least
13 weeks of benefit payments before the period ends.
(2) R as described in F.17 is less than 5.00 percent or
(3) P as described in F.19 is less than 120 percent.
Alternately, when a state, by law, has modified its "on" trigger conditions to
include the optional IUR trigger as described in 10.a. above, the "off"
trigger conditions ending a state extended benefit period must meet both
items (1) and (2) and either item (3) or (4) below.
(1) State extended benefit payments have been paid for at least 12
weeks including the current week so that there will have been at least
13 weeks of benefits before the period ends.
(2) R as described in F.17 is less than 6.00
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(3) R as described in F.17 is less than 5.00 percent.
(4) P as described in F.19 is less than 120 percent.
Report the ending of a state extended benefit period as the last week
payable in the period using the Saturday date to designate the close of the
3rd week following the end of the insured week (the 13th week of a 12-
week period for which an "off" determination is made) and 2 weeks from
the end of the report week in which the claims were filed.
Example: Assume that a state indicator was "on" for the 13-week period
ending April 9, 2011, and the extended benefit period began on April 24,
2011. Assume further that a state indicator was "off" for the week ending
August 27, 2011, which represents insured unemployment for the week
ending August 20, 2011. This would be due in the National Office by the
opening of business on Thursday, September 1, 2011, and would read
"Status Change - E" and "Date Change - 08/27/2011."
c. No Change of Status. When there is no change of status for the week
being reported, Status and Change Date may be "returned through"
because the system will default the values to the values of the prior week.
Status and Change Date will be the same for at least 11 weeks--for the
week immediately preceding an extended benefit period and for each of
the first 10 consecutive weeks of an extended benefit period. This
minimum period of 11 weeks contains the number of weeks which lapse
between the weekly report showing a Beginning date and the weekly
report reflecting an Ending date. Note that a Status and Change Date
may continue to be unchanged for a period of time which exceeds this
minimum.
F. Item by Item Instructions
Items to be reported are listed below. More detailed information can be found in
section E. above. The letter or letters used to identify each item on the weekly
report are given in parentheses before the title of the item. Each state must report
the weekly numbers associated with the items listed below, identified by the
underlined code. These data refer to claims activity under the state UI and Federal
UCFE and UCX programs (refer to Introduction, section K for program
classification). When applicable, data pertaining to Federal/State extended benefit
(EB) activity should be reported as identified in items 11 and 12. When
appropriate, data pertaining to state additional benefits programs should be
reported as identified in items 13 and 14. States which have an STC or workshare
program should report appropriate data in items 4, 5, 9, and 10. If a particular
program does not apply to your state, those items should be zero filled.
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1. IC. State UI Initial Claims, less intrastate transitionals.
2. FIC. UCFE-no UI Initial Claims.
3. XIC. UCX only Initial Claims
4. WSIC. STC or workshare total initial claims
5. WSEIC. STC or workshare equivalent initial claims
6. CW. State UI adjusted continued weeks claimed
7. FCW. UCFE-no UI adjusted continued weeks claimed
8. XCW. UCX only adjusted continued weeks claimed
9. WSCW. STC or workshare total continued weeks claimed
10. WSECW. STC or workshare equivalent continued weeks claimed
11. EBT. Total continued weeks claimed under the Federal/State Extended
Benefit Program--includes all intrastate and interstate continued weeks
claimed filed from an agent state under the state UI, UCFE and UCX
programs.
12. EBUI. That part of EBT which represents only state UI weeks claimed under
the Federal/State EB program.
13. ABT. Total continued weeks claimed under a state additional benefit
program for those states which have such a program. (Includes UCFE and
UCX.)
14. ABUI. That part of ABT which represents only state UI additional continued
weeks claimed for those states which have such a program.
15. AT. Average adjusted Total Continued Weeks Claimed. Report the average
of the sum of the CW and WSECW figures for the most recent calendar week
of unemployment experience and the immediately previous 12 calendar
weeks of unemployment experience (CW+WSECW) divided by 13; i.e.,
AT = ∑ ( CWi + WSECWi )
13 where i = 1 to 13
AT should have no decimals and should be rounded up for .5 or more.
16. CE. Covered Employment. Report the 12-month average monthly covered
employment for the first 4 of the last 6 completed calendar quarters prior to
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the end of the last week of the current 13-week period to which the insured
unemployment data relate. This figure will change only once each quarter, as
specified in section F.9. above.
17. R. Rate of Insured Unemployment. Report the rate of insured unemployment
for the current 13-week period. The insured unemployment rate for a 13-
week period is the result of dividing the average adjusted total continued
weeks claimed (AT) by the covered employment (CE); i.e.,
R = AT
CE
This quotient or decimal fraction is to be computed to four decimal places, is
not to be otherwise rounded, and is to be expressed as a percent by
multiplying the resultant decimal fraction by 100. Examples: 0.0439 x 100 =
4.39% and 0.0246 x 100 = 2.46%
18. AR. Average Rate of Insured Unemployment in Prior Years. Report the
average of the rates of insured unemployment for the corresponding 13-week
periods in the number of prior years allowed for in state law (See E.6. above).
The average rates in each of the prior years is computed as the sum of the
rates divided by the number of years; i.e.,
R1 R2 R N
AR
N
where R1 + R2 + … + RN refer to the rates for the corresponding 13-week
period in prior years and N is the number of prior years specified in state law.
The quotient AR is to be computed to three decimal places, is not to be
otherwise rounded, and is to be expressed as a percent.
Example using two prior years : If R1=4.39% and R2=2.46% then:
AR
4.39% 2.46% 6.85 3.425%
2 2
Example using three prior years: If R1=5.12% and R2=4.86% and R3=4.25%
then:
AR
5.12% 4.86% 4.25% 14.23 4.743%
3 3
These detailed illustrations are provided to clarify the intent of the Secretary's
Regulations. Since all three statistics--P, R, and AR--are defined in terms of
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rates, the quotient of AR is to be computed in a manner identical to and
consistent with the computations of statistics P and R.
19. P. Current Rate as Percent of Average Rate in Prior Years. This percent is
defined as:
P= R
AR
P is to be computed to four decimal places, is not to be otherwise rounded,
and is to be expressed as a percent by multiplying the resultant decimal
fraction by 100. Example: 1.2515 x 100 = 125.15%, and .8753 x 100 =
87.53%.
20. Status (B or E). Indicate the beginning (B) or ending (E) of a state extended
benefit period.
21. Change Date. If Status has changed since the prior week, enter the date the
change is effective.
22. Comments. Each weekly ETA 539 report should contain adequate
information to support and explain the nature of the claims data. The material
used for such information should be readily available in local offices without
additional data gathering procedures.
Information should include both economic and administrative factors which
affect significantly the data reported weekly on the ETA 539. The comments
are of interest to Federal agencies monitoring economic activity. They are
particularly important when there are significant rises or declines in either
initial claims or continued weeks claimed counts. The importance of the
comments from each state can not be overstated.
The following describes the types of information needed to support weekly
fluctuations for both initial claims and continued weeks claimed:
Primary cause of significant increase or decrease in activity such as
temporary mass layoff, plant closing, or cutback in military procurement.
Approximate number or percent of total initial claims and/or continued
weeks claimed involved.
Industry involved.
Administrative factors such as the beginning of a new benefit year
(excluding those filing transitional claims), delayed claims for partial
unemployment, etc. that significantly affect the volume of weekly claims.
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Also, when weekly claims exhaustions are numerous enough to affect
claims data, an estimate of the number of exhaustions, if available, should
be included.
Using meaningful abbreviations, these comments can usually be kept to the
four lines supplied on the input screen. An example of a comment might be:
"IC up 5% due to seasonal layoffs in Ag., Const. and layoffs at Alpha
Corp.,NAICS 278,. CW down 8% due to call back at Beta Co., NAICS 349."
(SIC codes may be used if they are labeled as such.)
In addition, anytime a state law is changed with regard to the number of years
used in the look-back related to the triggering of EB, or other federal
programs dependent on rates calculated and reported on the ETA 539, a
comment should be provided indicating the effective date of the state law
change and the number of years used in calculating the look-back.
Note: When claims filing is effected by holidays or other noneconomic events
such as computer failure or natural disaster, the data should be adjusted as in
section D.4.
G. Standby Emergency Reporting
When national, state, or local emergencies occur, special standby reporting
procedures are required. Emergency reporting could include energy-related fuel
shortages, major labor disputes, and such local or regional emergencies as floods,
windstorms, droughts, fires or other disasters. Emergency reporting is required in
addition to the weekly ETA 539 report and, depending on the emergency, the
request may be by telephone, letter or facsimile as an addendum to the ETA 539,
or under separate cover, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
In the event of an emergency, special reporting instructions will be sent to the
concerned Regional Office. Such instructions will vary according to the particular
emergency and data needed. For most emergencies, reporting will be activated by
facsimile and will cover: The method of submittal (electronic, facsimile, letter,
telephone, etc.); when and where to submit the report; and the items to be
reported.
H. Recommended Worksheet
It is recommended that the state maintain a worksheet which contains all the
information used in the calculation of the weekly trigger rate. If the data is kept on
a computer and the trigger rate is computer generated, it is recommended that one
of the outputs for the trigger system be a worksheet which would show all the data
used in the computation. This worksheet should be submitted when a state
experiences a change in trigger status.
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