Long-Term Unemployment and Jobless Benefits

Congress leaves with no deal on unemployment benefits, By Susan Davis, January 17, 2014, USA Today: “Congress recessed for a week-long break no closer to reinstating expired jobless benefits for the 1.3 million Americans who have been out of work for six months or more. The impasse is unlikely to be resolved prior to President Obama’s Jan. 28 State of the Union address, where he is likely to promote new efforts to close the gap on income inequality and call on Congress reinstate unemployment benefits…”
As jobless-aid bill fails, unemployed grow more desperate, By Ronald J. Hansen, January 15, 2014, Arizona Republic: “Out of work since July and now ineligible for unemployment aid, Margaret Turner is increasingly feeling a financial squeeze. At 56 years old, the Phoenix resident estimates she has sent 150 applications since losing her job as a school bus driver last summer. With no interviews and $190 in weekly unemployment assistance gone, she traded her apartment for sleeping in her car when she’s not in a homeless shelter…”