Kansas City Star (02/09/12) Diane Stafford
Missouri made no principal payments during the last two years on a federal loan used to pay jobless benefits to unemployed workers, which means the state’s employers are now paying a higher Federal Unemployment Tax Act rate. The state was due to repay the loan by the target date of Nov. 11, 2011, but it carries an outstanding balance of $773 million. The state’s effective tax rate for taxable wages earned in the latter half of 2011 was 0.9%, but it has risen to 1.2% this year and stands to increase to 1.5% next year and 1.8% in 2014.