The Senate passed a bill yesterday to extend unemployment benefits for the jobless to 14 weeks, and up to 20 weeks for those who live in states with over 8.5 percent unemployment.
More than 1 million people would have had their benefits ended without the extension, according to the National Employment Law Project, a nonpartisan group that tracks the issue. More than 15 million Americans are now unemployed, more than a third of whom have been out of work for more than six months.
Also yesterday we launched The Real Recovery (here’s the intro blog post) – our group investigation into how the recession’s effects are still lingering despite its end. Are you unemployed – directly affected by this news? Let us know. Go join The Real Recovery group and post your personal story.
Recently on the Current News Blog:
- Tune in tonight for Vanguard’s Sri Lanka: Notes from a War on Terror
- 2009 election round-up: NYC, NY-23, NJ and VA, Maine
- The Real Recovery – A collaborative investigation
- Man Makes it Snow in China (Video)
- The EU finally gets Lisbon; Thanks Vaclav Klaus
