- 1). Contact your state's department of economic or employment security. Check to see what percentage rate your state uses to calculate unemployment benefits. The standard is 4%. However, it is important to double check this in case of discrepancies or policy changes. For instance, Washington state has a 0.0385 percentage rate, while Arizona has 0.04 percent.
- 2). Determine your base period. Your unemployment insurance benefits are calculated from a base period, a one-year period that is divided into four quarters. In order to qualify, you must have collected insured wages for the entire duration of the base period. To figure out your base period, begin by considering when you filed for unemployment. For instance, if you apply for unemployment in January 2010, your base year includes wages earned between October 2008 and September 2009.
- 3). Identify the quarter in your base period in which you earned the most money. This quarter is what will be used to compute your unemployment benefits. Add the earnings together with a calculator. Some states, such as Washington, allow you to take the average of your two highest quarters, while other states, like Arizona, only base your unemployment on one base period quarter.
- 4). Use the unemployment rate of your state to calculate how much your weekly unemployment amount will be. If your state's percentage rate is 0.0385, like it is in Washington, then you will add the gross wages from the two highest quarters in your base period and divide by two. Then, you multiply that number by 0.0385 to get your weekly benefit amount. For example, if the average of your two highest quarters is $7,100, then calculate $7,100 times 0.0385 and you get a weekly unemployment amount of about $273.
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