Unemployment benefits cost: $520 billion

CNN Money ^ | 11/30/2012 | Tami Luhby

[SeekAndFind]

Jobless Americans have collected more than half a trillion dollars in benefits over the past five years.

State and federal unemployment insurance programs have cost roughly $520 billion, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released Wednesday.

The price of continuing this safety net will be the subject of intense debate in Congress as lawmakers decide whether to extend the deadline to file for federal benefits beyond year's end as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations. Extending federal jobless insurance next year could cost as much as $30 billion, according to the CBO analysis.

The federal government has spent far more on unemployment insurance in recent years than it had in previous economic downturns because of the unprecedented response to the Great Recession. Federal benefits were extended to a record 99 weeks in November 2009. That safety net was extended multiple times until this year, when Congress extended the deadline to file but shortened the duration the jobless can receive checks.

Here's how it works now: The jobless generally receive up to 26 weeks of state benefits and then shift to federal emergency unemployment compensation, which is broken into four tiers and lasts up to 47 weeks. There is a separate federal extended benefits program, which provides up to 20 weeks, but only New Yorkers are eligible for it at this time.

[andyk]

aren’t they being stupid?...do they understand that?

These are not professional employees. Don't try to understand the way the others think. That's why they're hanging out in bars spending their unemployment checks. P.S., they almost universally think Republicans are eeeevil.