Congressional Budget Deal Fails to Extend Aid for Long-Term Unemployed

More than 2 million unemployed workers will lose federal jobless aid by early 2014, if Congress allows Federal Benefits to shut down at year's end

Source: National Employment Law Project

Despite efforts by Democrats, the recent budget deal struck by Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Paul Ryan failed to include extension of benefits for long-term unemployed workers.  See great issue brief from National Employment Law Project on the risk that Congress may cutoff aid to long-term unemployed workers:

"...In the wake of October’s harmful government shutdown, we now face another critical looming deadline – the shutdown of federal unemployment insurance for long-term unemployed workers at the end of December. As detailed below, with unemployment still unacceptably high, labor market conditions persistently weak and long-term unemployment remaining at crisis levels, Congress must act to avert a shutdown of federal jobless aid and swiftly renew the program for 2014.

If Congress fails to reauthorize the federally-funded Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program, more than two million unemployed job-seekers will lose federal jobless aid by the end of March 2014. In the week between Christmas and New Year’s, the 1.3 million workers currently receiving federal EUC willbe abruptly cut off. Another 850,000 workers will run out of stateunemployment insurance in the first three months of 2014, with no access to federal EUC..."

Read the NELP Issue Brief

Visit the National Employment Law Project web site: www.nelp.org

Posted by Chuck Bell at 6:05 AM