In Alaska, the minimum benefit is $56 per week, and the maximum benefit is $370 per week.
Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Have Expired
Although additional money -- $300 extra per week -- was available under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, that program expired on September 6, 2021. For weeks of unemployment starting on September 6 or later, these extra benefits will no longer be paid.
A different federal program -- Pandemic Unemployment Assistance -- made benefits available temporarily to workers who were not eligible for traditional unemployment benefits, including freelancers, gig workers, and other contractors. That program also expired on September 6, 2021.
How Alaska Determines Benefit Amounts
Each state determines how much it will pay in unemployment benefits. Generally, the weekly benefit amount is some fraction or percentage of your earnings in the base period or your highest paid quarter of the base period.
In Alaska, your weekly benefit amount depends, in part, on whether you earned 90% or more of your compensation during the entire base period in a single quarter:
- If so, your base period wages are the total amount you earned in the other three quarters of the base period (not including the quarter when you earned the most), multiplied by ten.
- If not, your base period wages are simply the total amount you earned in all four quarters of the base period.
Once you have calculated your base period wages, look up your weekly benefit amount in the chart at Calculating Your Weekly Benefit Amount and Duration.
To make sure these amounts are still current when you apply for benefits, contact the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development.