State borrows $90M from feds to pay jobless claims

PROVIDENCE—Rhode Island wants to borrow up to $90 million from the federal government to pay unemployment insurance claims during one of its worst recessions in decades.

The state Department of Labor and Training announced Wednesday that it sought the line of credit because the account used to pay benefits to jobless workers had dropped to around $2 million. That’s enough money to cover just a few days of payments.

Record unemployment has strained the state’s unemployment insurance program. Joblessness stood at 12.8 percent in August, the third-worst rate in the country.

Earlier this year, Congress passed legislation allowing states to borrow interest-free to pay unemployment claims.