Are the long-term unemployed still able to qualify for unemployment insurance?
Unemployed workers typically qualify for up to 26 weeks of regular unemployment insurance benefits. In normal times, a high percentage of the unemployed find a job before exhausting those benefits – but these are not normal times, with the economy in a deep hole and barely beginning to climb out of it. That is why the economic recovery legislation that the Administration and the Congress enacted earlier this year included additional weeks of unemployment insurance and other assistance for unemployed workers. 4. How well have these measures worked? A: Very well. Not only have the additional weeks of unemployment insurance and other assistance in the Recovery Act helped relieve the hardship faced by unemployed workers and their families, but they have also provided a valuable boost to economic activity and job creation. Unfortunately, these measures are scheduled to expire in less than a month. It is critical that policymakers looking for ways to create jobs recognize how valuable unempl
