A variety of benefits may be available to unemployed workers to provide them with income support
during a spell of unemployment. The cornerstone of this income support is the joint federal-state
Unemployment Compensation (UC) program, which may provide income support through the payment of
UC benefits for up to a maximum of 26 weeks. Other programs that may provide workers with income
support are more specialized. They may target special groups of workers, be automatically triggered by certain
economic conditions, be temporarily created by Congress with a set expiration date, or target typically
ineligible workers through a disaster declaration.
UC benefits may be extended at the state level by the permanent Extended Benefit (EB) program if high
unemployment exists within the state. Once regular unemployment benefits are exhausted, the EB program
may provide up to an additional 13 or 20 weeks of benefits, depending on worker eligibility, state law, and
economic conditions in the state. The EB program is funded 50% by the federal government and 50% by the
states, although the 2009 stimulus package (P.L. 111-5, as amended) temporarily provides for 100% federal
funding of the EB program.