GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The unemployment rate in Michigan has increased from 4% in February 2024 to 5.4% since February of this year. However, there is a silver lining for Michiganders experiencing unemployment. For the first time since 2002, unemployment benefits have increased for Michigan residents.
"The maximum weekly benefit amount increases from the current $362 a week to $446 a week," said Nick Assendelft, communications manager for the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA), Wednesday.
That figure will go up to $530 on Jan. 1 2026, then to $614 the next year. After that, it'll increase each year depending on inflation.
Assendelft said the maximum number of weeks that a claimant can qualify for has also increased from 20 to 26.
"Finally, there's the dependent allowance, so claimants can claim up to five dependents, and currently, you'll get $6 per dependent. That now has gone up to $12.66 per dependent," said Assendelft.
If you applied for unemployment benefits before Wednesday, you might still qualify for higher rates.
"We're going to take a look at the claims, the active claims, between January 1 and today, and determine whether adjustments need to be made for those claimants who had claims in that time period and retroactively apply the higher rate," Assendelft explained.
It's good news for West Michigan residents like Melissa Elle. The Grand Rapids resident said times were tough when her husband had lost his job a while back.
"I think that's exactly what we need, because that stimulates the economy, right? You know, when people have the money, they spend the money," said Elle.
Grand Rapids Sugar Bar employee Anais Adjahi shares the same sentiment.
"I'm thinking it probably gives people, like, a moment to rest a bit, having that safety option, and then going back on their legs to find a new job or, like, find a new option, a new path," Adjahi said.
Assendelft said the state's Claimant Roadmap makes it easy to apply for unemployment benefits.
"It's just a real nice resource that we've launched recently, that just kind of takes a little bit of the confusion out of it. ... It's written plain language, very simple step-by-step process. So I would urge any claimant to follow our UIA Claimant Roadmap as they go forward and apply for benefits," said Assendelft.
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