WASHINGTON (Reuters) UPDATED November 6, 2009 President Barack Obama signed the Unemployment Benefit Extension bill into law Friday, after weeks of partisan bickering.  The Senate approved the bill by a vote of 98 to 0 Wednesday to extend aid for jobless workers and broaden tax breaks for homebuyers and businesses in a bid to breathe life into the struggling U.S. economy.

The unemployment extension will provide additional benefits to hundreds of thousands of Americans. According to the National Employment Law Project, 400,000 unemployed Americans exhausted their benefits in September and another 200,000 will do so by the end of October. That averages out to 7,000 people per day reaching the end of their benefits in the face of an increasingly bleak job market.

 

US states where the jobless rate is 8.5 percent or more would get 20 additional weeks of benefits. States with lower unemployment would get up to 14 additional weeks. Unemployment stands at 9.8 percent, the highest since 1983, and analysts expect it to climb to 9.9 percent when new figures for October are released on Friday.

The bill also extends an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers which has helped the housing industry recover from the foreclosure crisis, though some analysts say it has largely gone to people who would have bought houses anyway.

The tax credit, due to expire on November 30, would be extended until April 30 and be expanded to include more affluent homebuyers. People who have owned a home for at least five years would also be eligible for a $6,500 credit if they move.

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