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• The U.S. has 53 separate unemployment insurance systems -- 50 state systems and one each for Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Each is free to set its own policies within broad federal guidelines. (More about unemployment insurance in the U.S.)
• This patchwork system results in substantial variations in benefits from state to state. Workers in high-benefit states can get twice as much as their counterparts in low-benefit states. Workers that would be fully covered in some states are barred from unemployment insurance in others. See how your benefits measure up.
• States are free to choose the level of funding for their systems. Over time, many states yielded to political pressure to increase benefits and lower taxes, allowing their reserves to dwindle. Now, 17 states have run out of money altogether, forcing them to borrow money and increase taxes at the worst possible time: in the middle of a deep recession.

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• Chart: Has Your State Left Federal Unemployment Money Unclaimed?
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• Map: Is Your State's Unemployment in Danger?
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• Chart: First States to Borrow, Were Almost Broke Before the Recession
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• Chart: How Many States Have Unsustainable Unemployment Systems?
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• Profiles: Different States of Unemployment