There is hereby established in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the “Unemployment Trust Fund”, hereinafter in this subchapter called the “Fund”. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to receive and hold in the Fund all moneys deposited therein by a State agency from a State unemployment fund, or by the Railroad Retirement Board to the credit of the railroad unemployment insurance account or the railroad unemployment insurance administration fund, or otherwise deposited in or credited to the Fund or any account therein. Such deposit may be made directly with the Secretary of the Treasury, with any depositary designated by him for such purpose, or with any Federal Reserve Bank.

It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to invest such portion of the Fund as is not, in his judgment, required to meet current withdrawals. Such investment may be made only in interest-bearing obligations of the United States or in obligations guaranteed as to both principal and interest by the United States. For such purpose such obligations may be acquired (1) on original issue at the issue price, or (2) by purchase of outstanding obligations at the market price. The purposes for which obligations of the United States may be issued under chapter 31 of title 31 are hereby extended to authorize the issuance at par of special obligations exclusively to the Fund. Such special obligations shall bear interest at a rate equal to the average rate of interest, computed as of the end of the calendar month next preceding the date of such issue, borne by all interest-bearing obligations of the United States then forming part of the public debt; except that where such average rate is not a multiple of one-eighth of 1 per centum, the rate of interest of such special obligations shall be the multiple of one-eighth of 1 per centum next lower than such average rate. Obligations other than such special obligations may be acquired for the Fund only on such terms as to provide an investment yield not less than the yield which would be required in the case of special obligations if issued to the Fund upon the date of such acquisition. Advances made to the Federal unemployment account pursuant to section 1323 of this title shall not be invested.

Any obligations acquired by the Fund (except special obligations issued exclusively to the Fund) may be sold at the market price, and such special obligations may be redeemed at par plus accrued interest.

The interest on, and the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any obligations held in the Fund shall be credited to and form a part of the Fund.

The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to pay out of the Fund to any State agency such amount as it may duly requisition, not exceeding the amount standing to the account of such State agency at the time of such payment. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to make such payments out of the railroad unemployment insurance account for the payment of benefits, and out of the railroad unemployment insurance administration fund for the payment of administrative expenses, as the Railroad Retirement Board may duly certify, not exceeding the amount standing to the credit of such account or such fund, as the case may be, at the time of such payment.

There is hereby established in the Unemployment Trust Fund a Federal unemployment account.