California's Unemployment Fund Owes Nearly $10 Billion to the Federal Government

466,000 Californians are on unemployment benefits

SACRAMENTO — Late payments, glitch-prone computers and swamped call centers aren't the only problems bedeviling California's unemployment insurance program.

The insurance fund that pays state jobless benefits — run by the Employment Development Department — owes nearly $10 billion to the federal government. That's because the state has been paying far more in jobless benefits than it receives in employer-paid taxes, and the feds make up the difference.