Unemployment benefits

In the coming weeks, the Senate is expected to resume its debate about whether to extend the emergency jobless benefits that were passed in response to the steep increase in unemployment caused by the recession. But some who have suffered the longest in the downturn, will not be part of that conversation. They are among the 1.4 million workers who have been unemployed for at least 99 weeks, reaching the limit for the insurance. Their numbers have grown sixfold in the past three years. The 99ers are glaring examples of the nation's most serious bout of long-term joblessness since the Great Depression. Nearly 46 percent of the country's 14.6 million unemployed people have been out of work for more than six months, and forecasters project that the situation will not improve anytime soon. Currently, the Labor Department says there are nearly five unemployed people for every job opening. While searching for work, they lived on $585 a week in unemployment payments. But the checks were cut off in May when they reached 99 weeks. With the extensions expired at least temporarily, more than 2 million Americans have lost their unemployment benefits.
Source: Washington Post
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