Oregonians who receive unemployment benefits just got a raise.
At 3.9 percent, it’s the biggest raise they’ve seen since the great recession.
The maximum unemployment benefit someone can receive in Oregon is now $567 a week.
Craig Spivey with the Oregon Employment Department says that adds up to about $78 a month more than last year, “This actually is the largest raise in the weekly benefit amount that we’ve had for some time," he said.
"Mainly because during the great recession and the years following, Oregon’s wages were not growing very much.”
Under Oregon law, the Employment Department recalculates the maximum and minimum benefits each year.
The minimum amounts to 15 percent of the average weekly wage in Oregon. The maximum amount is 64 percent of that wage.