House Republicans Draining at Least $600 Million a Week from the Economy

Labor Secretary Thomas Perez explained the need for the emergency program to continue:

When Congress first passed this version of emergency unemployment compensation in 2008, and the president [George W. Bush] signed the law, the unemployment rate was 5.6%, and the average duration of unemployment was 17.1 weeks. Today, the unemployment rate is 7%. The average duration of unemployment is now 36 weeks.

The administration also noted that the long-term unemployment rate, the percentage of the workforce that has been looking for work for 6 months or longer, is more than 2.5%, well above the 1% economists say we should expect during normal times.

***

This has been reposted from the AFL-CIO.