Senate Fails to Advance Bill Extending Benefits for Long-Term Unemployed

From The Wall Street Journal:

Efforts to reach a bipartisan deal extending emergency jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed collapsed in the Senate on Tuesday, ending at least for now a push by Democrats to revive a program that started during the financial crisis.

The law that expired in December dates from the financial crisis and provided federal aid to supplement the 26 weeks of unemployment benefits provided by most states, giving up to 47 weeks of additional payments. The latest proposals from both Democrats and Republicans would scale that back to a maximum of 31 weeks.

The benefits lapse could cause the unemployment rate to drop, if some unemployed people no longer are motivated to keep applying for jobs—a requirement to receive the jobless benefits. That would shrink the labor force, the total field of people that are out of work but actively seeking employment. Some analysts have predicted the loss of benefits could also cause some people to take jobs even if the work pays less than the job seekers want.