The Nation : Jobless Payments Scored

Millions of dollars worth of unemployment compensation have been collected by unqualified former federal workers, including some who were fired for criminal violations, the General Accounting Office said. The congressional investigative agency examined six federal agencies and estimated that one in six payments were improper. The study concluded that the improper payments were made because federal agencies failed to provide state unemployment offices with full information, state personnel failed to make proper use of federal data and federal agencies failed to appeal state-awarded benefits even though they believed them to be improper.