Nevada unemployment tax rate up slightly

Employers in Nevada will pay a slightly higher unemployment insurance tax rate next year — an average of 2 percent, up from an average of 1.95 percent in 2014.

The new rate was adopted by the state’s Employment Security Division last week.

For a worker earning $27,800 or more next year, the unemployment insurance tax paid by the employer would increase by an average $14 next year, said Renee Olson, administrator of the Employer Security Division.

About 37,300 employers in Nevada are required to pay into the unemployment insurance pool.

The state’s Employment Security Council, which recommended the increase, based its recommendations on current economic conditions and the needs of the unemployment insurance trust fund.

When the economy tanked in 2008, Nevada’s unemployment rate was the highest in the nation. As a result, the state’s trust fund ran out of money. Like other states, Nevada borrowed from the federal government to continue paying benefits to jobless workers.

The state sold bonds last year to repay the $846 million federal loan, and a portion of the current unemployment tax pays off those bonds. The federal loan had carried an interest rate of 2.5 percent; the bonds carry a rate of less than 1 percent.

Olson said next year’s 2 percent average tax rate is expected to raise an additional $15 million for the unemployment fund, providing the state with a better cushion to withstand a future downturn.

NNBW staff