A Nevada panel on Wednesday recommended raising the unemployment tax rate to help repay money that the state borrowed from the federal government to pay benefits to laid-off workers, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The state Employment Security Council advised raising the tax rate from 2% to 2.25%, an increase of $72 per worker.
The state currently suffers from a 12.2% unemployment rate, the highest in the nation.
The state Employment Security Division owes $681 million that it borrowed from the U.S. Department of Labor beginning in 2009, according to the news report.
Employment Security Division administrator Renee Olson will set the rate in December.
If Olson approves the change, it will increase the amount employers pay to $705 per employee, the report said.
