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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- State analysts are warning that Utah's jobless benefits trust fund could run dry within a year and a half.
Utah Department of Workforce Services chief Kristen Cox is using the word "insolvent" to describe the future of a fund that just two years ago held $855 million.
The trust account now has about $384 million, and officials say it's draining rapidly as record numbers of out-of-work Utahns draw weekly benefits.
The fund's governing council including public, labor and business representatives is scheduled to meet next month to discuss emergency measures for shoring up the account.
It currently takes in about $140 million a year in premiums paid by employers.
The department last week put the Utah unemployment rate at 7.3 percent in May -- the highest rate since 1984.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
