The 13-week extension would supplement the 26 weeks of benefits most states offer and the federally funded extensions of up to 53 weeks that Congress approved in legislation last year and in the stimulus bill enacted last February.
People from North Carolina to California “have been calling my office to tell me they still cannot find work a year or more after becoming unemployed, and they need some additional help to keep their heads above water,’’ McDermott said.
Critics of unemployment insurance argue that it can be a disincentive to looking for work, and that extending benefits at a time the economy is showing signs of recovery could be counterproductive.
But this recession has been particularly pernicious to the job market, others say. Some 5 million people, about one-third of those on the unemployment list, have been without a job for six months or more, a record since data started being recorded in 1948, according to the research and advocacy group National Employment Law Project.
“It smashes any other figure we have ever seen. It is an unthinkable number,’’ said Andrew Stettner, NELP’s deputy director. He said there are about six jobless people for every job opening, so it’s unlikely people are purposefully living off unemployment insurance while waiting for something better to come along.
The current state unemployment check is about $300 a week, supplemented by $25 included in the stimulus act.
That doesn’t go very far when a loaf of bread can cost $2.79 and a gallon of milk $2.72, Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, said at a hearing last week on the unemployment insurance issue.
“We need to keep our unemployed neighbors from falling into poverty. We need to figure out how best to make our safety net work,’’ Baucus said.
