Unless Congress changes its mind, ,Extended unemployment benefits that had been extended up to 99 weeks will end this month benefits will start running out today for an estimated two million Americans,The average weekly unemployment benefit in the U.S. is $302.90, though it varies widely depending on how states calculate the payment.
Because of supplemental state programs and other factors, it’s hard to know for sure who will lose their benefits at any given time. But the Labor Department estimates that, without a Congress-approved extension, about 2 million people will be cut off by Christmas.Yesterday the Senate voted on a bill that would have extended the federal unemployment benefits through the year.
It didn’t gain approval, although this vote did reveal many Democrats are starting to lean into the Republican ways of thinking.The Federal Reserve expects the unemployment rate will hover around nine percent for all of next year.
Republicans in the House and Senate, along with a handful of conservative Democrats, say they’re open to extending benefits, but not if it means adding to the $13.8 trillion national debtThe expiring benefits were not even mentioned by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell when he spoke of the meeting that he and other congressional leaders had Tuesday with President Obama at the White House.
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