Fiscal Year 2027 State Workforce Agency Unemployment Insurance Resource Planning Targets and Guidelines
Provides states with preliminary fiscal year 2027 unemployment insurance administration resource targets, planning guidelines, and an explanation of how federal base resources are allocated among states.
Funder: Employment and Training Administration
Due Dates: October 1, 2026 (UI-1 report) | October 15, 2026 (Regional-office questions) | October 30, 2026, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (Applications)
Funding Amounts: $2,632,033,000 estimated total funding; award floor $1,891,183 and ceiling $457,710,985
Summary: Formula funding supports FY 2027 state Unemployment Insurance administration and provides preliminary resource planning targets.
Key Information: Eligibility is limited to states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
Description
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) provides formula funding for state Unemployment Insurance (UI) program administration. Unemployment Insurance Program Letter No. 15-26 establishes preliminary FY 2027 base resource planning targets, explains how base resources are allocated among states, and provides resource planning guidelines. State Workforce Agencies use these targets to plan UI operations and develop State Quality Service Plans.
The allocation methodology seeks to provide comparable service levels to claimants and employers across states, promote administrative efficiency, shift resources with workloads, and avoid abrupt year-to-year funding changes. Base targets reflect a national average weekly insured unemployment level of 1.8 million. The targets assume Congress appropriates the amounts requested in the FY 2027 President’s Budget and may be revised to reflect the enacted appropriation.
