Weekly benefit amount and weeks in Louisiana

The weekly benefit

Weekly benefit

$35–$282

Maximum: new claims in calendar year 2026

How it is figured

Your weekly benefit amount is 1/25 of the average of your wages in the four quarters of your base period, rounded down to the next lower dollar. It is between $35 and $282 a week.

Official

Official table or notice

Law: La. R.S. 23:1474(I), 23:1592

The wage test

You must have at least $1,200 in total base-period wages, and your total base-period wages must be at least 1.5 times the wages in your highest-paid quarter.

Your base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file. Louisiana Works does not use the quarter you file in or the quarter just before it. Example: if you file in December 2025, it uses wages from July 2024 through June 2025.

The state's wage tests

• At least $1,200 in total base-period wages and total wages at least 1.5 times your highest quarter

Law: La. R.S. 23:1592(A), 23:1600(5)

Official source: Source page

Estimate your weekly benefit

Enter the gross wages (before taxes) you were paid in each quarter of your base period. We apply the state's own formula to your numbers.

The state's formula: your total base-period wages ÷ 100, rounded down; at least $35 and at most $282

How long it lasts

Currently 12 weeks (it changes with the unemployment rate).

For new claims filed in 2026, benefits last up to 12 weeks. The total you can get (your Maximum Benefit Amount) is your weekly benefit times your number of weeks, and your Monetary Determination shows both.

The most weeks you can get depends on the average of the three most recently published Louisiana seasonally adjusted unemployment rates before the month you file: 12 weeks if the average is 5.0% or less, rising one week for each half point, up to 20 weeks at 8.5% or more. Claims filed in every month from December 2025 through December 2026 get a maximum of 12 weeks. Your number of weeks is locked in when you file. Since 2026, the rate and weeks are updated twice a year, in January and July.

Law: Act 184

Extra weeks and training

If your benefits run out while you are enrolled in and attending school or an approved training program, you may get up to 8 more weeks of Additional Benefits at the same weekly amount. File a new claim as soon as your claim is exhausted and say you are in school or training.

Law: La. R.S. 23:1595

Official source: Source page

Waiting week

The first week after your claim starts is usually your waiting week. You must file a weekly claim for it, but you are not paid for it. If your first week is not payable, the waiting week moves to the next week you qualify for.

Law: La. R.S. 23:1600(4)

Official source: Source page

Working part time

You can work part time and still get benefits for a week. Report all gross earnings for the week you worked. Earnings up to half of your weekly benefit amount or $50, whichever is lower, do not reduce your check; earnings above that are subtracted dollar for dollar. If you earn as much as or more than your weekly benefit amount, you get nothing for that week, and if that happens three weeks in a row your claim becomes inactive.

Earnings not deducted (as the data states it)

The amount not deducted is the lesser of $50 or 50% of your weekly benefit amount.

Law: La. R.S. 23:1593

Official source: Source page

What applies in every state

• You must have earned enough wages, or worked enough, during a period called the base period. In most states it is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file.
• It generally takes two to three weeks after you file to get your first payment. Some states require a one-week waiting period, so the second week you claim is the first week paid.
• Unemployment benefits count as income for federal income tax. You must report them on your federal tax return.

  Law: 26 U.S.C. 85(a)

Free help

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