Title: 12 million Americans to lose unemployment benefits December 26 | 10tv.com
Headings: 12 million Americans face losing unemployment benefits the day after Christmas
12 million Americans face losing unemployment benefits the day after Christmas
Two programs authorized and funded by the CARES Act are set to expire on Dec. 26, meaning about 12 million Americans will lose extra benefits, an analysis says.
Credit: AP

Content: Most economists agree that because unemployed people tend to quickly spend their benefits, such aid is effective in boosting the economy. RELATED: US jobless claims increase to 742,000 as pandemic worsens
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Cutting off benefits with so many people still receiving them would be unusually early compared with previous recessions. In the Great Recession of 2008-2009, the government extended unemployment benefits to 99 weeks, and the additional aid lasted through 2013. When that program ended, about 1.3 million people lost benefits -- a fraction of the number who would lose their aid at the end of this year. “We’re still down 10 million jobs since the pandemic began,” said Elizabeth Pancotti, co-author of the Century Foundation report and a policy advisor at Employ America, a left-leaning think tank. “ We’re heading into the winter, we’re seeing additional business closures, consumer demand is already falling...Cutting off benefits seems inhumane to me.” In March and April, when the pandemic erupted in the United States, tens of millions of people applied for jobless aid. Though many of them have been rehired or have landed new jobs, those who haven’t found work began exhausting their six months of state aid as early as September.