Characteristics of Unemployment Insurance Applicants and Benefit Recipients — 2018 — 2019-09-25

(NOTE: This news release was reissued on November 7, 2019, to correct errors in tables 1, 2, and 3 and in the text of the release. Tables 4 and 5 in this release were not affected by the error. See the note beginning at the end of this news release for more information about these changes.) In 2018, about 1 in 4 (26 percent) of the unemployed who worked in the past 12 months had applied for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Of the unemployed who had not applied, 3 out of 5 did not apply because they did not believe they were eligible to receive UI benefits. Only people who have previously worked are eligible for UI benefits, and they generally must apply shortly after their last job.