Feb 14, 2008 12:44 PM
Labor unions and their allies are calling for a number of additions to any stimulus package approved by Washington. Chief among them is a temporary extension of unemployment insurance benefits.
In January, 18.3 percent of the unemployed had been looking for a job for at least 27 weeks. (Unemployment benefits are cut off after 26 weeks in most states.) At the start of the last recession in March 2001, the long-term unemployed made up only 11.1 percent of all unemployed workers, according to Chad Jones, chief economist for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Jones noted that extended unemployment benefits would start reaching workers and boosting consumption within 30 days, unlike tax rebates, which can’t begin to go out until mid-May.
Meanwhile, the number of those whose benefits have expired as well as people working part-time because they can’t find full-time jobs rose to its highest level since September 2005.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Bulletin, Feb. 1