Colorado Unemployment Benefits: State Mistakenly Doled Out Too Much Money, Asks For Its Return

What hurts more than signing up for unemployment benefits? In this economy, a lot. But this, especially: being asked to give some of the money back.

An investigation by The Denver Post found Colorado mistakenly doled out $128 million in unemployment benefits in 2011, with 76% of the funds coming directly from state coffers.

Some of the money can be traced back to fraud, but the majority of payouts occurred because of clerical errors, writes KDVR.

In an emailed statement published by the Associated Press, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment spokeswoman Cher Haavind said the complexity of rules results in the errors, and that improper payments have declined to near 14 percent in recent years.

Unemployment benefit recipients who received more than their fare share should expect mailed notifications asking them to return the money.