Back in December, the qualification dates for existing tiers of unemployment benefits were extended for an additional two months. This extension is up at the end of February which means that unless another extension is made, millions of unemployed workers will lose their unemployment benefits over the next few months.
The National Employment Law Project (NELP) released a new report last week showing that …
1.2 million jobless workers will become ineligible for federal unemployment benefits in March unless Congress extends the unemployment safety net programs from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). By June, this number will swell to nearly 5 million unemployed workers nationally who will be left without any jobless benefits.
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Currently, 5.6 million people are accessing one of the federal extensions (34-53 weeks of Emergency Unemployment Compensation; 13-20 weeks of Extended Benefits, a program normally funded 50 percent by the states).
The following graph is based on the January employment report and shows the number of workers unemployed for 27 weeks or more …
The blue line is the number of workers unemployed for 27 weeks or more. The red line is the same data as a percent of the civilian workforce.
According to the BLS, there are a record 6.31 million workers who have been unemployed for more than 26 weeks (and still want a job). This is a record 4.1% of the civilian workforce. (note: records started in 1948).
Source: Calculated Risk Blog
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Five million additional unemployed workers without unemployment benefits probably translates to well over ten million more family members without an income to sustain them. Hoovervilles will be making a comeback soon.
Congress needs to get together and extend unemployment benefits for the millions who have run out of money or about to run out of money. Five million people with families translates to over ten million people without any money coming in at all.