The federal-state Unemployment Insurance (UI) program offers assistance to workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. In all states, the level of cash benefits paid is based on previous wages earned, and the duration of benefits is limited, typically to a maximum of 26 weeks. However, the federal government has extended the duration of benefits during every recession since the 1950s. Most recently, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 created the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program. The program, which subsequent amendments to the act extended, paid federally financed extended benefits from November 1991 through April 1994. More than $28 billion in benefits was paid under the program.