Editorial policy for unemployment estimates

Evidence before arithmetic

We begin a benefits model with the state statute, current agency handbook, benefit table, notice or official estimator. Federal comparisons provide a useful second check, but a national summary does not override a jurisdiction's current binding rule. A publication date alone is insufficient: the effective claim period, benefit-year convention and applicable wages must also agree. Proposed bills, introduced measures and outdated rate tables are not treated as current law.

What we verify

A review distinguishes monetary qualification from the weekly amount and the total account. We check minimum earnings, quarter distribution, dependent classification, rounding, duration and balance limits individually. Examples use transparent wage arithmetic or a named primary table row. Special claims, alternate wage periods and facts requiring agency judgment are described as limits. A passed wage test never becomes a statement that a separation or weekly eligibility issue has been approved.

Annual changes and unresolved figures

Rules are reviewed when an agency announces a new annual schedule, when legislation changes a modeled rule, and well before a published cap reaches its last covered claim date: we look forty-five days ahead so the successor can be read from the agency first. A confirmed annual period keeps its lawful end date. If the successor is genuinely unavailable, the form hands off to the official award worksheet and states the needed record values. We never carry an expired cap forward or move an effective date to fit an older figure. Statutory schedules without a published expiration also require periodic source review.

How a figure earns its place on a page

Each weekly cap, minimum, percentage and week count is matched to the statute section, agency table row or notice cited beside it, and to the claim dates that document says it governs. Worked examples are recomputed by hand from the same source and must agree with the worksheet result for identical wages before the page changes. Software, including AI assistance, helps locate documents and draft explanations; generated prose is never legal authority. When a draft and the primary document disagree, the document wins, and anything still unresolved is named on the page instead of being filled with a guess. Each state guide shows when its sources were last reviewed.

Corrections and publication

Readers can submit the affected page, a short description and a public source using the contact form. An optional reply address is used to follow up about that report. A report is a request for investigation, not proof of an error. A confirmed change replaces the figure, links the source that supports it and moves the page's review date. Older source dates remain visible where they describe the source's vintage. Our methodology explains calculation exclusions and our terms explain the limits of relying on an estimate.