The U.S. Senate approved legislation Wednesday that would extend unemployment benefits up to nearly two years, an all-time high.
The U.S. Senate approved legislation Wednesday that would extend unemployment benefits up to nearly two years, an all-time high. The U.S. House is expected to approve the measure when it votes Thursday. By a vote of 97-1 the Senate bill extends jobless benefits in all states for 14 weeks, and for up to 20 weeks in states where the unemployment rate exceeds 8.5 percent. In Illinois, the jobless rate for September, the last figure available, was 10.5 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate is at a 26-year high of 9.8 percent, and the White House is warning that job losses will continue even as the economy recovers. The latest U.S. jobs figures are due Friday and economists are estimating that the country lost 150,000 jobs last month. “Look for more bad news when the latest unemployment figures are announced this week,” said Jonathan Prince, an economist with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in New York. “Illinois will not fare any better because it is among the states with the highest unemployment.”
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