Some states would not benefit from unemployment extension

09.28.09
By Lewis Green

This week the U.S. House of Representatives voted on a measure to extend unemployment benefits that would have run out in the coming weeks for the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are also facing problems like credit card debt and home loan payments. The Senate is also expected to pass the bill by a wide margin, but it seems that not every state will benefit.

Residents in some states, like Minnesota, are facing a catch-22 in that unemployment rates have fallen over the last month, but that decline takes the state below the 8.5 percent unemployment rate that is required by the bill to extend benefits for another 13 weeks for those unable to find work.

After peaking at almost 9 percent in March, Minnesota has seen its unemployment rate drop to 8 percent in August - almost 2 percentage points below the national average.

But some states which are currently below the 8.5 percent unemployment mark will still become eligible for the extra 13 weeks of unemployment benefits once the bill becomes law. That's because states have to average 8.5 percent unemployment for three months.

So, while residents in 27 states would currently receive the extra benefits, the Associated Press notes that states like Alaska (which has an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent) along with Connecticut and Delaware (both with a 8.1 percent unemployment rate) could see the extra benefits if their unemployment rates increase.

If the bill passes through the Senate, the unemployment benefit extension is expected to help some 300,000 unemployed workers who would have their benefits cut by the end of this month along with another 1 million whose benefits would stop by the end of the year.

In a sign that employment may be improving, figures released last week from the Department of Labor show that weekly filings for first-time unemployment benefits fell by 21,000 over the previous week.

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Some Americans may be seeing more help in unemployment benefits, but not in all states