LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Those on unemployment in Michigan will get a financial boost at the start of the new year.
The maximum weekly rate for unemployment benefits is scheduled to increase beginning January 1, 2026 to $530, up from the current $446.
The boost is part of bipartisan legislation signed into law in December 2024. The updated unemployment law that went into effect in April 2025 set annual increases in the weekly benefit rate and the amount for each dependent, while it also extended from 20 to 26 the maximum number of weeks someone can collect benefits.
Claims filed in 2026 will qualify for the $84 weekly increase. Claims filed before January 1 2026, will not see a change in the approved weekly benefit rate.
Not everyone receives the maximum weekly benefit rate. How much an individual is approved for is based on their wage history.
Also increasing at the first of the year is the amount an unemployed worker receives for each dependent (up to a total of five). That rises to $19.33 per dependent, up from this year’s $12.66 for each dependent.
There will be no change in 2026 in the maximum 26 weeks a worker can collect benefits.
When the unemployment law changes took effect in April 2025, the maximum weekly benefit rate increased to $446 from $362, which had been the rate since 2002.
Comments