Why is Insured Unemployment so Low?

Gary Burtless

Gary Burtless Senior Fellow - Economic Studies, Center for Economic Security and Opportunity @gburtless

Lawrence H. Summers

Lawrence H. Summers Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus - Harvard University @LHSummers

THE NATION’S unemployment rate has risen to new post-Depression highs
since 1980. But at the same time the number of persons receiving
unemployment compensation benefits has been unusually low relative
to the total number of unemployed. Two types of state and federal
programs are involved in this development: regular unemployment
benefits and extended and supplemental benefit programs