It certainly fits the government's definition of an entitlement[1].

It's also structured as a non-optional, government-ran insurance scheme predominantly funded through explicit payroll tax obligations[2], which employers aren't entitled to opt out of.

As long as you meet your states particular flavor of requirements, you're entitled to your unemployment insurance benefits. Despite any statements to the contrary states may push in their mandatory unemployment class.

[1] https://www.senate.gov/reference/glossary_term/entitlement.h...

[2] https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-unemploym...

That's absurd. They take it out of your paycheck every month, it's paid entirely from employee wages, it can't be spent on anything but unemployment, and you get benefits proportional to what you contributed. It's literally your own money that they're giving back to you that they took for the sole purpose of forcing you to save money for if you lose your job at some point. It's like if I asked to borrow a pen, then when you asked for it back pretending like it was some benevolent gift.

It's definitely not a line item on paychecks in my state. It's structured as an insurance premium paid by companies to the state. The company's premiums increase when there's a claim against the "policy." Smaller companies like to try denying claims in an attempt to prevent this increase.

One could certainly argue that if this 'premium' didn't exist, it could be paid out in salaries.

That's right, I recall something like that. I think states administer their own unemployment system even though it's mandated by the federal government. It's a payroll tax where I live. It's calculated based on your wages and paid based on the amount of insurance you've funded regardless of whether the regulations/company decides to display it on the calculation or not. It might also get buried under something like "state and local taxes," too.

Unemployment costs are handled by the employer. It is the State Unemployment Insurance (SUI) tax. All employers are experience rated based on age, number of claims, and win/loss rates in claim protests. It is not taken out of employee paychecks.