dow2664
Unemployment rates continue to hover in the 9.6% range and have been relatively high now in the U.S for approximately two years. Unemployment benefits are running out for many Americans and the federal government is keying in on the issue of unemployment in a couple of ways. First, Congress needs to determine this month if they will again provide an unemployment benefit extension past the expiration date that is scheduled for the end of this month. Second, the Federal government has implemented their plan of quantitative easing. This is the Fed’s plan to buy up $600 billion worth of treasury bonds and inject the greenback into the economy over the next eight months. The plan is to keep interest rates low to stimulate lending and spending. Many experts though say that this will not do much to reduce the nation’s jobless rates. The Bureau of Labor did recently report that the number of non-farm jobs rose by 151,000, but the number of people filing for unemployment remained unchanged at 14.8 million. This past summer, in July, Congress passed legislation the extended unemployment benefits to Americans in need. President Obama signed off on the legislation and it carried us through November 30th, of 2010. This current extension is set to expire on November 30th, 2010 and at that point, 2 million Americans that are unemployed and trying to find work will no longer receive an unemployment check from the government. If Congress does nothing in the next two weeks to extend unemployment benefits coverage, then approximately two million people will have to find another way to receive a reliable and predictable form of income. Author: Stephen Johnson
No comments:
Post a Comment