With more than 40 million Americans having filed for unemployment insurance (UI) since mid-March, OMA Connections Partner RSM says many states could be forced to borrow federal dollars to meet their UI obligations, as Ohio already has.

In this analysis, RSM notes that assuming the loan balance is still outstanding as of Nov. 10, 2022, employers in these states could be subject to a 0.30% increase in their FUTA tax rate for all of 2022, increasing the rate from 0.60% to 0.90%. FUTA tax rates can increase further — in increments of 0.30% per year — should loans remain outstanding in subsequent years.