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WASHINGTON — Joblessness has reached new heights that would receive been offensive a few months past, and all signs projection to more layoffs. That estate more and greater degree the public will rely on unemployment benefits to get by.

Here are some questions and answers about the money that’s distributed in unemployment benefits.

Q: Where does the money come from?

A: It’s raised through state and federal unemployment-insurance taxes on employers. The federal tax is 6.2 percent on the foremost $7,000 in annual wages to both employee. State tax rates vary from state to state, taken in the character of does the amount of each worker’s income that’session subject to the tax — what one. ranges from $7,000 to $34,000.

Q: Do all employers in a given state pay the same?

A: No. The rate depends on how many former employees have drawn jobless benefits. The more such workers an employer has, the higher the tax rate it must pay.

The irony is that employers responsible for the greatest in number joblessness as a percentage of their be force — the ones that have gone out of business — cannot requital their share of unemployment taxes because they’ve gone inferior to.

Q: Are state and founded on taxes the only sources of funding?

A: Not quite. A few states also impose unemployment-insurance taxes on employees.

Q: How is the federal money divided?

A: There are three federal accounts. One pays for state program the government; a second in spite of the 50 percent allotment of the extended benefits program (more on that later); and the third during a loan consols for states with unusually high unemployment.

Q: Is there a ceiling on how plenteous money can be in the federal accounts?