UPDATED February 5, 2010 As many as 1.5 million jobless Americans will exhaust their unemployment insurance benefits this coming March, according to projections by the National Employment Law Project, a private research group. By June, this number will swell to nearly 5 million unemployed workers nationally who will be left without any jobless benefits.
"Congress must swiftly act to maintain the lifeline for millions of jobless Americans caught in the undertow of record long-term unemployment in this ongoing downturn," said Christine Owens, Executive Director of the National Employment Law Project. "At the end of last year, Congress wisely agreed that our hardest hit workers and our economy were not yet out of the woods, and reauthorized the jobless benefits and health care subsidies from the ARRA. It is critical for Congress to renew these unemployment provisions through the end of the year before its Presidents Day recess for the millions workers again facing the end of the line— and to avoid missing the boat on this timely and effective economic jolt."
After a two-month reauthorization in December (the house added a ARRA reauthorization amendment to the Defence Appropriations bill), the critical benefits provided to jobless workers by the ARRA are set to expire at the end of February. In December, the House passed a $154 billon jobs bill, including an extension of the ARRA unemployment provisions; the Senate has yet to propose a jobs bill.
NELP's state-by-state analysis demonstrates the pressing need for another extension of the ARRA provisions that would fund additional benefits payments under the EUC.
Click here for the status of state by state eligibility for extended benefits.
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December 20, 2009 One million unemployed people may have one less thing to worry about this holiday season, thanks to the U.S. Senate's passing Saturday of a bill that postpones the deadline for filing for jobless benefits and extends health insurance subsidies. The deadline to request unemployment benefits and healthcare subsidies was going to expire Dec. 31, but was moved to Feb. 28, 2010.
 December 4, 2009 The government reported today that only 11,000 jobs were lost in November, the fewest lost since the start of the recession.
Long term unemployment, defined to be 27 weeks or longer out of work, increased to a total 5.9 million, 38.3% or over 1 in 3 unemployed people. This is 3.8% of the total labor force—far surpassing the previous peak of 2.6% set in June 1983.
The number of unemployed persons declined slightly by 463,000 to 15.4 million. The November U-6 unemployment rate was 17.2%, a small decline from October by a third of a percentage point.
The more commonly quoted U-3 unemployment rate was 10.0 percent, declining by two tenths of a percentage point from October.
 November 25, 2009 The number of new applications for Unemployment Insurance tumbled to 466,000, dropping to below half a million for the first time since January according to the US Department of Labor .
The 4-week moving average was 496,500, a decrease of 35,000 from the previous week's revised average of 513,000.
Insured unemployment ending the week November 14 decreased by 190,000+ from the adjusted preceding week of 5,613,000 to 5,423,000. The 4 week moving average continued to decline, dropping to 5,613,750, a decrease of 98,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 5,712,250.
 November 19, 2009 The US Department of Labor said the number of people filing new applications for unemployment insurance in the week ending 14 November was unchanged from the revised previous week at 505,000. The 4-week moving average was 519,750, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average of 524,250.
Insured unemployment ending the week November 7 decreased by 39,000+ from the adjusted preceding week of 5,650,000 to 5,611,000. The 4 week moving average continued to decline, dropping to 5,711,500, a decrease of 83,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 5,795,500.
 November 12, 2009 The US Department of Labor said new applications for unemployment dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 502,000 in the week ending November 7, from from the prior week's revised figure of 514,000. The 4-week moving average was 519,750, a decrease of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average of 524,250.
Insured unemployment ending the week October 31 decreased by 139,000+ from the adjusted preceding week of 5,770,000 to 5,631,000. The 4 week moving average continued to decline, dropping to 5,790,750, a decrease of 100,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 5,891,500.
 November 6, 2009 The government reported today that 190,000 jobs were lost in October.
The number of unemployed persons rose by 558,000 to 15.7 million. The September U-6 unemployment rate was 17.5%, a rise from September by half of a percentage point. The more commonly quoted U-3 unemployment rate was 10.2 percent, rising by four tenths of a percentage point from September.
Long term unemployment, defined to be 27 weeks or longer out of work, increased to a total 5.6 million, 35.6% or over 1 in 3 unemployed people.
 November 5, 2009 The US Department of Labor said new applications for unemployment dropped 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 512,000 in the week ending October 31, from from the prior week's revised figure of 532,000. The 4-week moving average was 523,750, a decrease of 3000 from the previous week's revised average of 526,7250.
Insured unemployment ending the week October 24 decreased by 68,000+ from the adjusted preceding week of 5,817,000 to 5,749,000. The 4 week moving average continued to decline, dropping to 5,886,250, a decrease of 79,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 5,965,750.
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.
 October 28, 2009 The US Department of Labor said new applications for unemployment dropped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 530,000 in the week ending October 24, from from the prior week's unrevised figure of 531,000. The 4-week moving average was 526,250, a decrease of 6000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 532,250.
 WASHINGTON - October 27, 2009 The Senate this afternoon approved a motion to move forward on their bills to extend unemployment insurance benefits (HR3548 and S1699). The motion to overcome Republican objections and proceed to an official debate of the bill was approved by a vote of 87-13. Who are the 13 naysayers?.
The bill under discussion (S.amdt.2668) would extend benefits for people who have exhausted them by 14 weeks in all states and by an additional 6 percent in states with unemployment rates above 8.5 percent.
October 27, 2009 Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid [D, NV] filed for cloture on S1699 the bill in an attempt to overcome the Republican-led opposition and move the bill forward towards becoming law. The vote on cloture, which will require 60 votes to pass and will put every member of the Senate down on record, is scheduled for Tuesday, October 27.
The bill is in the form of an amendment, S. Amdt. 2668, to the House version, H.R. 3548, which was approved by the House on September 22nd by a vote of 331-83. The Senate Democrats’ bill would extend unemployment insurance benefits for jobless Americans who have exhausted their benefits by 14 more weeks. The benefits would be extended for an additional 6 weeks on top of that, for states with unemployment rates above 8.5 percent.
400,000 unemployed Americans exhausted their unemployment benefits in September and another 200,000 will do so by the end of October, according to the National Employment Law Project.
 October 22, 2009 The US Department of Labor said new applications for unemployment rose 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 531,000 in the week ending October 17, from from the prior week's revised figure of 520,000. The 4-week moving average was 532,250, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's revised average of 533,000.
 October 15, 2009 Although we know these numbers are not a real representation, since many people are dropping off UI or have been forced to take slave-wage jobs...
The US Department of Labor said new applications for unemployment dropped 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 514,000 in the week ending October 10, from from the prior week's revised figure of 524,000. The 4-week moving average was 531,500, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's revised average of 540,500.
 October 8, 2009 The US Department of Labor said new applications for unemployment dropped 33,000 to a seasonally adjusted 521,000 in the week ending October 3, from from the prior week's revised figure of 553,000. The 4-week moving average was 539,750, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's revised average of 548,750.
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