Unemployment Extension Passes Senate

The Senate voted today overwhelmingly today in favor of a bill extending federal unemployment benefits. Having already been approved by the House, the bill now goes to the White House. Where President Bush is expected to sign it after White House press secretary Dana Perino said in a statement that President Bush will sign the legislation "because of the tight job market."

In most states, unemployment benefits are paid for a maximum of 26 weeks. This new measure calls for extending unemployment benefits by at least 7 weeks and up to 20 weeks in states that have the highest unemployment rates.

The Senate vote came on the same day the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of people filing for unemployment insurance had reached a 16-year high. Initial filings for state jobless benefits increased by 27,000 to 542,000 for the week ending November 15. This marks the third time since 1992 that initial claims have exceeded 500,000. This time last year initial filing claims stood at 333,000.

U.S. job losses have been mounting for months. This month, the Department of Labor reported that the economy lost over 240,000 jobs in October, bringing the total number of jobs lost in 2008 to nearly 1.2 million. The unemployment rate rose to 6.5 percent, a 14-year high, last month.

Several companies reporting layoffs in past week include Citigroup, which cut 20 percent of its work force, or 50,000 jobs, the biggest cut by a corporation in 15 years. Fidelity Investments announced that it will cut 1,700 jobs, and Sun Microsystems reported that it would lay off 6,000 people, or 18 percent of its work force.