Obama Signs Unemployment Extension

Last week, long-term jobless workers received a bit of relief.  President Barack Obama signed legislation to provide up to 20 extra weeks of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for workers who exhaust their benefits before finding new work. The bill had been held up for almost six weeks as Senate Republicans blocked several attempts to bring it to a vote.

An estimated 24,180 Wisconsin workers are eligible for this extension. 

“We welcome this as necessary stopgap measure to keep families afloat, but we also know that any lasting solution hinges on job creation,” said Phil Neuenfeldt, Secretary-Treasurer of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.  “As a state and as a nation we should foster job growth by reinvesting in our crumbling infrastructure.  There is also growth potential in clean energy and the green economy.”

Obama's signature came just hours after it was announced the nation's unemployment rate had soared to 10.2 percent in October, from 9.8 percent in September.

The legislation provides an additional 14 weeks of benefits to unemployed workers in all states and an additional six weeks for jobless workers in states with an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent or higher.  Wisconsin's September unemployment rate was 8.3%, but based on a three-month average, Wisconsin workers would still qualify for the extra six weeks.

“We have to ask ourselves how we got into this mess,” added Neuenfeldt.  “Clearly, we should revise the trade policies that gutted our manufacturing sector by sending jobs to places with lower labor and human rights standards.”