North Carolinians who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own stand less chance of collecting unemployment insurance or—if they do—replacing prior wages than before changes were made to the system in 2013.

At the same time unemployment insurance (UI) is doing less to stabilize the temporarily unemployed and the communities where they live, it also has failed to establish prudent solvency thresholds that would help avoid having to borrow money from the federal government in the next economic downturn.