Missouri jobless benefits fund going broke, again

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri may soon have to borrow money to pay benefits to the rising number of unemployed people.

State labor director Todd Smith said Monday that Missouri may have to borrow about $40 million from the federal government before April to pay jobless benefits.

He said the state should be able to quickly repay that amount. But a bigger problem is looming.

By the end of 2009, Smith said Missouri's unemployment fund is likely to be insolvent.

That would mark the second time this decade that Missouri's jobless fund has gone broke.

Missouri borrowed nearly $444 million from the federal government to pay jobless benefits between March 2003 and April 2006. The state finished repaying that in May 2007.