A record number of unemployment claims in recent years has prompted Iowa Workforce Development to adjust the unemployment contribution rate for employers for the first time in eight years.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, about 56 percent of Iowa’s approximately 80,000 businesses will likely see a 1 to 1.5 percent increase in their contribution rate, said Kerry Koonce, an Iowa Workforce Development spokeswoman.

So far this year, 31,949 Iowa employers have a zero contribution rate. About 95 percent of those employers had no events resulting in unemployment benefits being paid over the last five years and will continue paying the zero rate, Koonce said.

Whether a business is new and the number of layoffs a company has had in the last five years will continue to play a role in determining what rate it will pay, meaning the increase is not proportional to all Iowa companies, Koonce said.

The construction and manufacturing industries, including companies with seasonal workers and regular shutdowns, will be more adversely affected by the change in rating structure than those that have relatively few shutdowns or layoffs.

Though Iowa has traditionally had some of the lowest employer rates in the nation, a torrent of unemployment claims and individuals remaining on unemployment longer has led to $709 million in benefits being paid to Iowans over the last 12 months.

The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, in which all unemployment contributions are deposited, has a current balance of $508 million. An Iowa law enacted in the 1980s, following a $166 million Trust Fund deficit as payments made to workers exceeded contributions, requires the rate to be adjusted to ensure that the fund remains at sufficient levels to adequately provide for unemployment benefits.

“Iowa Workforce Development is committed to maintaining the solvency of the Trust Fund while minimizing the effects felt by Iowa employers,” Iowa Workforce Development Director Elisabeth Buck said in a news release.

“Obviously the recession is not over,” Koonce said. “Even when it comes to an end, unemployment benefits will continue to rise for a while.” She said more than 100,000 Iowans are currently unemployed, and twice as many people are receiving employment benefits compared with this time last year.

Unemployment insurance contributions provide for the benefits paid to workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own.