In order to receive unemployment insurance benefit payments, you are required to meet state income and time worked requirements in a period of time called a “base period.” In the majority of states, your base period is a one-year time span consisting of the last four out of the most recent five calendar quarters worked before filing your claim. In most cases, your unemployment agency will look at a base period of these four full calendar quarters when determining eligibility.
If you file your unemployment claim in January through March, your base period is January through September of the previous year as well as October through December of the year prior to that. For claims filed April through June, the base period is January through December of the previous year. A base period of April through December of the prior year and January through March of the current year is used for claims filed in July through September. Finally, claims filed in October through December have a base period of July through December of the previous year and January through June of the current one.