2 Million People Set to Lose Unemployment Benefits
Posted at 9:45 a.m. on Nov. 14, 2012
Adding to the challenges Congress faces in the lame-duck session, “More than 2 million Americans stand to lose their jobless benefits unless Congress reauthorizes federal emergency unemployment help before the end of the year,” according to the Washington Post.
“The people in danger of having their unemployment checks cut off are among those who have benefited least from the slowly improving job market: Americans who have been out of work longer than six months… Conservative lawmakers have raised concerns that continually extending jobless benefits is both an unmanageable burden on the federal budget and a disincentive for people to find work… As the unemployment crisis has persisted, the program has been extended on 10 occasions.”
“Beyond the pain that a cutoff would cause recipients, advocates say that ending the federal jobless benefits would harm the economy because those who get such checks tend to quickly spend the money on basic needs.”
