Free Republic

When Demetrius White recently lost his job as a $10-an-hour forklift driver loading pallets of shampoo, he applied for unemployment benefits to help support his family. That aid will not last as long as it once did, because White is among the first group of people affected by a new Missouri law reducing the duration of jobless benefits. His $200-a-week checks will last no more than three months - just half as long as what has typically been available. [...] States traditionally have offered up to half a year of aid for the unemployed as they search for new jobs....

Long-term jobless eye bleak future as benefits end By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 11, 2011 6:20am EST (Reuters) - George Parks has been out of work for 21 months and his unemployment benefits will run out at the end of the month. At 60, he fears his prospects of getting a job are very slim, even though he has a degree in civil engineering and has vast experience in project management. A similar story is recounted by John Jones, 52, a fellow resident of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Jones lost his teaching job last July as the Pennsylvania state...

The Senate intends to push for extension of unemployment benefits, perhaps as early as Thursday, said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, would extend unemployment benefits that otherwise would expire Dec. 31. The nation's unemployment rate is 5.7%, with 8.1 million people out of work. Daschle told reporters Thursday: "There could be no more important an issue." The bill could be brought to the Senate floor as early as Thursday, he said. The bill would extend for 20 weeks unemployment benefits in high unemployment states...