FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOSTON, MA (May 19, 2025) – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization with thousands of members across the Commonwealth, issued the following statement attributable to Christopher Carlozzi, NFIB state director in Massachusetts, regarding the state unemployment rate rising to 4.6%.

“The state’s unemployment rate is again trending in the wrong direction and placing the Commonwealth’s UI trust fund on an accelerated path to insolvency,” said Christopher Carlozzi, Massachusetts state director for NFIB. “The longer lawmakers delay implementing much-needed reforms to the state’s overly generous benefits, extended duration, and relaxed qualification standards, the more calamitous the situation becomes for small business owners who are being saddled with some of the most oppressive UI taxes in the nation.”

To date, Massachusetts employers are liable for repaying nearly $5 billion in pandemic related UI debt, $2.1 billion because of a state accounting error. The maximum weekly benefit is up to $1,051 per week, with recipients allowed to collect for up to 30 weeks after one of the state’s seven metropolitan areas exceeded a 5.1% unemployment rate last month. While states like New York recently committed to paying off more than $6 billion in UI debt from their state’s reserves, Massachusetts lawmakers have failed to make any similar commitment.

“There is a UI storm on the horizon, and inaction is no longer a solution. It is time for state elected officials to address this looming crisis by finally tackling reforms and committing state funds to a broken UI system, taking the pressure off of overtaxed and overburdened employers,” added Carlozzi.

NFIB’s recently conducted a radio and digital ad campaign urging legislators to reform the state’s broken unemployment insurance system. For more on NFIB’s UI campaign visit ProtectMassachusettsSmallBusiness.org.

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For over 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses, and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.