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The End of Unemployment Benefits: 5 Things to Know
2009-07-27
While Presidents Bush and Obama have done many things differently, they used one common tool to help stimulate the economy: unemployment benefit extensions. Still, the efforts of both presidents may not have been enough to hold over millions of American workers until they find their next jobs. More than a half-million Americans are expected to fully exhaust their benefits by the end of September.With longterm unemployment streaking higher, the job market shows no signs of real recovery. The declining number of people filing initial unemployment benefit claims is evidence that companies are slowing their job shedding, but they don't appear to be ramping up hiring yet. Here are five things to know about benefit exhaustion: Some 540,000 Americans are expected to fully exhaust their unemployment benefits by the end of September, and another 1.5 milllion by the end of the year, according to an analysis by the National Employment Law Project. Fully federally funded benefits extensions are covering 2.8 million workers, the NELP reports. States with the highest unemployment rates will see workers begin to exhaust their benefits the soonest, because benefit extensions kicked in at higher unemployment rates. States that reached those rates the earliest will see the relief run out the most quickly. Some states' rates went high enough to trigger the relief later, so their relief will now be exhausted later. Indeed, no workers will have exhausted their benefits by September in Massachusetts, Maine, New York, Delaware, Colorado, Virginia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, according to the NELP data. Unemployment benefits can be an effective stimulus. A $1 increase in unemployment benefits generates about $1.64 in near-term GDP, according to a Moody's Economy.com report. Unemployment benefit recipients tend to be so in need of the funds they receive, they spend them right away. "The benefit of extending unemployment insurance goes beyond simply providing financial aid for the jobless, to more broadly shoring up household confidence," economist Mark Zandi reports. "Nothing is more psychologically debilitating, even to those still employed, than watching unemployed friends and relatives lose benefits." The ranks of long-term unemployed are growing. The Labor Department reports that 4.4 million Americans were out of work for 27 weeks or more in June. Congress may extend benefits again. Reuters quoted House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer as saying last week: "It is appropriate to extend unemployment (benefits) when it runs out. We've done that in the past. My expectation would be we will do it ... when it becomes necessary."
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 New $100 billion safety net for jobless in works (2009-12-01) | | Weekly jobless claims drop below 500,000 (2009-11-25) | | Electronic Arts to cut 1,500 jobs (2009-11-09) | | Jobless rate tops 10 pct. for first time since '83 (2009-11-06) | | Obama: Hiring last to come as economy rebounds (2009-11-02) | | US Airways, American Airlines cut 1,700 jobs (2009-10-28) | | US new jobless claims up again (2009-10-22) | | Obama looking at all options for creating jobs (2009-10-18) | | New jobless claims fall to 521K, lowest since Jan. (2009-10-08) | | Jobless claims hit 9-month low, retail sales rise (2009-10-08) | | Even as layoffs persist, some good jobs go begging (2009-10-04) | | U.S. jobless rate hits 26-year high of 9.8 percent (2009-10-03) | | US jobs picture may worsen in coming months: Obama (2009-09-20) | | New jobless claims drop unexpectedly to 545K (2009-09-17) | | For the jobless, Labor Day is hardly a holiday (2009-09-05) | | 10 Least Competitive Job Markets (2009-08-18) | | Lockheed Martin aerospace division to cut 800 jobs (2009-08-17) | | Jobless NYC woman sues college for $70K in tuition (2009-08-03) | | More Job Seekers Are Relocating For Work (2009-07-27) |  The End of Unemployment Benefits: 5 Things to Know (2009-07-27) | | New jobless claims rise to 554K, total rolls fall (2009-07-23) | | Identity Thieves Target Job Seekers (2009-07-15) | | Crisis spurs people to work for free - good or bad? (2009-07-13) | | Jobless claims drop, data skewed by auto jobs (2009-07-09) | | 565K new jobless claims, lowest level since Jan. (2009-07-09) |
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