Vol. 74/No. 32      August 23, 2010

Often described as the “99ers,” these workers are demanding Congress extend unemployment compensation beyond 99 weeks. However, there’s little support among the Democratic and Republican legislators to do so. They argue that any further payments must be balanced against cutbacks elsewhere in social programs because of the federal deficit.

The impact of this halt in unemployment benefits has been devastating. Karl Schafer, a 52-year-old man from Ohio, was laid off from a truck factory more than two years ago. Since then he’s applied for hundreds of jobs. “I’m a good worker and it’s extremely hard,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “I was a $50,000-a-year worker, and now I’m reduced to zero.” He’s not eligible for welfare, as only workers with dependent children qualify.

On July 22 President Barack Obama signed a bill into law temporarily renewing two federal programs that extend jobless benefits to anywhere from 60 to 99 weeks, depending on a state’s unemployment rate. For workers to get 99 weeks of payments, the official statewide unemployment rate must be above 8 percent.

Federal benefits for millions were suspended for seven weeks in June and July as politicians in Congress wrangled over whether to maintain a program that extended compensation beyond 26 weeks of unemployment. The program expired June 2. The new law provides payments retroactive to that date and is in effect through November 30.

In July, 6.6 million workers—45 percent of the 14.6 million the government counts as unemployed—have been jobless for more than 26 weeks, reported the Labor Department. About 4.4 million have been looking for work for at least a year.

“Among unemployed people in their 50s, a common worry is that they will never find steady work again, forcing them to scrape by until they are eligible for Social Security benefits,” reported the Los Angeles Times. In March, 3.5 million people age 50 and older were unemployed, double the number in March 2008.

Economists and the media describe this situation as the “new normal.” “The old normal of unemployment at about 5 percent during buoyant economic growth is over,” stated the New York Times. The current levels of about double that figure is what workers must grow to accept, they argue.

As depression conditions deepen the bosses are eliminating millions more jobs. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the media August 6 that he expects unemployment to go up further before it begins to come down.
 
 
Related articles:
UK health care, jobs in government firing line
U.S. bosses press wage cuts amid joblessness
Workers told to accept ‘new normal’  
 
 
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