Title: Strong Jobs Report Could Mean Bad News For Unemployment Benefits | HuffPost
Headings: Strong Jobs Report Could Mean Bad News For Unemployment Benefits
Strong Jobs Report Could Mean Bad News For Unemployment Benefits
BEFORE YOU GO
MORE:

Content: The maximum combined state and federal benefits in states with high unemployment rates is currently 73 weeks. But what goes up, must come down — it’s always been a matter of when. The stakes are high: Between Christmas and the new year, 1.3 million long-term jobless will lose their federal benefits if Congress fails to reauthorize the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated it would cost $26 billion to continue the benefits through next year. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) suggested the positive November jobs report would make Republicans less likely to support more spending. “ Today’s report includes positive signs that should discourage calls for more emergency government ‘stimulus,’” he said Friday. But the declining unemployment rate masks a lot of bad news in the Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data. There are still more people than ever who have been unemployed six months or longer. More importantly, the long-term jobless still comprise an historically unprecedented percentage of the overall unemployed population.