Benefits for unemployed workers in Michigan will increase again in 2026 to as much as $530 a week from the current $446. It is part of a series of step-wise increases in jobless benefits that continues through 2028 under a law signed roughly a year ago by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
That law marked the first increase in state jobless benefits since 2002, according to the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.
Not every unemployed person will receive the maximum benefit because the scale is based on a recipient’s wage history.
The stipend for households with children or other dependents will also go up in 2026. That will go from the current $12.66 per dependent to $19.33.
The work search requirement is also boosted in the new year as jobseekers will have to show at least three work search activities per week instead of one.
The increased benefit comes as Michigan’s jobless rate is expected to go up. The University of Michigan Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics anticipates the state unemployment rate will rise to 5.6% by the second quarter of 2026.
