Family Life

04.06.10 | FL News Team

Unemployment benefits will end this week for tens of thousands of out-of-work Americans, and in about a month more than one-million people could see their benefits evaporate. Both the House and Senate have approved separate versions of long-term bills extending unemployment insurance but the versions haven't been reconciled. In the Senate, there's a familiar battle underway between Democrats and Republicans over how to pay for the extension.

 Republicans, including Senators John McCain and Mitch McConnell, indicate they're likely to approve an extension if they could be shown a way to pay for it. Democrats say the situation is an emergency and senators should figure out later how to pay for it. The Senate left on its spring recess while the argument continued, which has left many unemployed people without benefit checks this week.

 Possibly offering the GOP some ammunition, the economy added 162-thousand jobs in March indicating to some that a benefit extension may not be necessary. Others point out the unemployment rate stayed the same at nine-point-seven-percent, with about 15-million people still out of work. More than six-million have been collecting unemployment benefits for more than six months.