I wonder if you know how much his employer paid. I know because I've been paying for the past 28 years as the president of my single employee corporation. It's peanuts. (Less than $300 a year, I think. I don't really know. I just pay.) And BTW, I haven't had any income at all this year and I'm not eligible to collect.
You're simply naive if you think that any sort of unemployment taxes have paid for someone to be on the dole for two and a half years. (Sort of like my grandmother who thought her $60/year (combined!) paid for her social security.)
ML/NJ
The amount that amount the employer paid is a pittance, we the people picked up the tab:
3. State unemployment tax
State governments administer unemployment services and determine the state unemployment tax rate for each employer. (Some not-for-profit organizations—such as churches without schools—may not be required to pay state unemployment taxes. You should check with your state unemployment office to learn the specifics for your organization.)
Generally, states require that the employers pay the entire unemployment tax. Often, employers that have built up a large reserve in the state’s unemployment fund will have lower unemployment tax rates; conversely, employers with a small reserve (or no reserve at all) will have higher unemployment tax rates.
The unemployment tax rate is often applied only to the first $7,000 of each employee’s annual salary and wages (this amount will differ from state to state). If we assume that an employer’s unemployment tax rate is 4% and that this is applied to the first $7,000 of annual salaries and wages, then the employer’s state unemployment tax cost will be a maximum of $280 per year for each employee ($7,000 × 4%).
To illustrate, let’s assume that a company has three employees. In 2011, Employee #1 earned $19,000, Employee #2 earned $40,000, and Employee #3 (who only recently joined the company) earned $4,000. If the 2011 state unemployment tax rate is 4%, the employer will pay a tax of $720 to the state government:
Employee #1 $7,000 × 4% = $280
Employee #2 $7,000 × 4% = $280
Employee #3 $4,000 × 4% = $160
Total for 2011 $720
Even though the state unemployment tax is based on employee salaries and wages, the entire tax is paid by the employer. There is no withholding from an employee’s salary or wages for the state unemployment tax.