In August 2017, an Act Further Regulating Employer Contributions to Health Care was signed into law, temporarily changing the existing employer medical assistance contribution and creating a temporary supplemental contribution, among other things. The final regulations implementing the law were just released by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA), and could financially impact your organization.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released their Jobs Report for March 2018 on April 6th. Notable trends included a steady unemployment rate of 4.1%, as well as increased employment within the manufacturing, mining, and health care fields.

Please feel free to download the attachment below to read the full report.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Department of Unemployment Assistance has provided a list of frequently asked questions to help explain the new EMAC Supplement. Feel free to download the attachment below to read more, or view it at www.mass.gov.

You have received an EMAC Supplement Liability Determination, what happens now? Mass.gov has provided the below materials on how you can begin the appeal process.

Learn about important changes to the EMAC law. These changes will go into effect beginning January 1, 2018.

The numbers: Initial U.S. jobless claims rose by 3,000 to 229,000 in mid-March, but they remain near the lowest levels since 1970. And the number of people collecting benefits fell to a fresh 45-year low.