Unemployment insurance is a state-operated insurance program designed to partially replace lost wages when you are out of work. Like fire, accident, health and other types of insurance, it is for an emergency: when you are temporarily or permanently out of a job, or if you work less than full time because of lack of work.
The federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program has been extended through calendar year 2013. If you previously qualified for EUC and have not yet received the maximum amount available to you under the program, continue to certify for benefits on your regularly scheduled call-in dates, as long as you continue to meet all applicable eligibility requirements.
The extension does not provide for any additional weeks of EUC for claimants who have already received the maximum amount available under the program (additional state resources are available).
The program ensures that, if you meet the eligibility requirements 
of the law, you will have some income while you are looking for a job, up to a maximum of 26 full weeks in a one-year period, depending on when the claim was established. Unemployment insurance, however, cannot and does not protect you against wage losses while you are absent from work due to illness or while you are idle by choice.
