A communication from the Department of Unemployment Assistance (see Section 14F of Chapter 151A of the General Laws) relative to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund report for February, 2026

194th Legislature (2025-2026)

Massachusetts’ UI Trust Fund held about $1.14 billion as of February 2026, with benefits outweighing contributions so far this year.

Placed on file

Purpose

HD 6013 transmits a formal communication from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) regarding the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund, specifically reporting for February 2026. The memorandum functions as a reporting document to key legislative committees and clerks, aligning the Commonwealth’s UI financing status with state and federal requirements and providing transparency on fund balances, receipts, and expenditures.

Key Provisions and Data Highlights

UI Trust Fund ending balance (as of February 28, 2026): $1.14 billion (preliminary).

Year-to-date employer contributions (through Feb. 28, 2026): $118.20 million.

Year-to-date benefits paid (regular UI, through Feb. 28, 2026): $483.38 million.

Claims processed: 179,831 initial and continuing claims.

Pandemic Unemployment Insurance liability resolution:

On January 17, 2025, Massachusetts and the U.S. Department of Labor reached an agreement resolving outstanding liability related to pandemic UI overdraws from COVID-era programs.
The agreement’s impact is reflected in the January 2026 projections in the UI Trust Fund Quarterly Outlook Reports.
The Commonwealth’s first payment under this agreement occurred on December 1, 2025.

Public accessibility: UI Trust Fund data are available to the public via Mass.gov/UITrustFund, including data visualizations covering February 2025 through February 2026.

Who/What is Affected

Massachusetts UI Trust Fund participants and stakeholders:

Employers contributing to the UI Trust Fund.
Claimants receiving regular UI benefits.
State and federal agencies coordinating pandemic-era liability resolutions.

Legislative and oversight bodies:

Senate and House Ways and Means committees; Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development.
House and Senate clerks receiving the information for public record and monitoring.

Procedural and Timeline Aspects

Reporting cadence: Monthly informational memorandum to key legislative leadership and committees, accompanying the February 2026 UI Trust Fund data.

Fiscal debriefing: Reflects ongoing reconciliation of pandemic-era liabilities with federal authorities; first payment under the agreement occurred in December 2025, with projections updated in January 2026 Outlook Reports.

Availability of data: Public data visualizations and datasets accessible on Mass.gov/UITrustFund, covering February 2025–February 2026.

Observations

The memo emphasizes transparency of fund health, showing a substantial year-to-date outflow in benefits relative to employer contributions, against a solid ending balance of roughly $1.14 billion as of February 2026.

The pandemic-era liability resolution is a notable item, indicating ongoing financial reconciliation between state and federal programs and its incorporation into official projections starting January 2026.

If you’d like, I can extract specific figures into a compact table or compare these numbers to prior months or prior-year trends.

Bill