New employer rate (SUTA)
The new employer rate is the default state unemployment tax rate assigned to an employer without enough history for an experience-based rate.
Each state assigns new employers a standard rate, often varying by industry, until several years of benefit-charge history produce an experience rate. New employer rates are frequently higher than what a stable employer earns over time, though a company with heavy claims can be rated well above them.
Depending on the state and how wages were reported during the relationship, a company leaving a PEO may re-enter the state system as a new employer rather than resume its old experience rate. Ask both the PEO and the state agency how the account will be rated after exit.