The conventional wisdom in Washington seems to be that another year-long extension of federal unemployment benefits is likely to be approved in Congress despite strong Republican opposition in the House.
The midterm hangover having finally worn off, the 111th Congress returns today to kick off the lame-duck session, its last hurrah before its successor takes over. And the 112th Congress will look radically different, with Republicans in control of the House and the Democratic majority in the Senate significantly reduced. More…
Over the past year, Democrats in Congress have fought three times to reauthorize federally extended unemployment benefits, which provide up to 99 weeks of unemployment insurance to millions of jobless workers. Each time, Republicans have put up resistance, arguing that Democrats need to pay for the benefits by cutting spending More…
Steve Benen flags some disturbing news out of South Carolina:
South Carolina’s more than 236,000 unemployed workers could have to take a drug test in order to receive jobless benefits, according to a proposal by Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley on Tuesday. [...] Haley said testing the unemployed
At the Roosevelt Institute, Mike Konczal and Arjun Jayadev have an astonishing paper (PDF) closely examining the unemployment numbers and weakness in the labor force. The key finding:
Starting at the beginning of 2009 it is now more likely that someone who is unemployed will drop out of the
Some good news from the Labor Department this morning: Mass layoffs, where an employer fired more than 50 workers within a month, decreased year-on-year and from June to July.
The data shows that the manufacturing sector has improved, year on year, though layoffs remain high.
Initial claims for unemployment insurance climbed to a nine-month high last week, the Department of Labor said today. Economists had expected claims to drop from 488,000 the prior week to 476,000. Instead, they reached the highest level since November: 500,000.
Over at The National Review, Josh Barro has a good blog post on extending the unemployment insurance system during sustained periods of high joblessness.
I am inclined to favor further extension of UI benefits while the job market remains so weak.
In the unemployed netroots this week, rumors abounded that Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) might be planning legislation for the exhaustees or the 99ers — those who have run out of the maximum number of state and federal unemployment benefits.
Arthur Delaney at the Huffington Post notes that Schumer More…
This morning, the Department of Labor reported that weekly initial unemployment insurance claims declined to 457,000, from 468,000 last week.
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