EKB News

The national jobless rate is 9.8%. As the U.S. jobless rate grows, people are being hard-hit as they continue to attempt to find work, even though the economy is showing slight signs of beginning to emerge from the recession. Thursday, a measure to extend unemployment benefits cleared the House in a vote of 403-12. One day earlier, it won unanimous support in the Senate. The bill extends benefits for those who have exhausted their federal aid or will do so by the end of the year. An additional 14 weeks will help almost two million people who have been out of work nearly a year or more. States where the unemployment rate is 8.5% or more will get an additional six weeks.