Responding To Jobs Report, Reid Says Congress Will Consider Extending Unemployment Benefits

August 7, 2009 12:11 p.m. EST

Kris Alingod - AHN Contributor

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Delivering his final floor speech before a month-long recess, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Friday said Congress will consider extending unemployment benefits after the break, something the White House says it is already working on with lawmakers.

The Labor Dept. said the same day the number of jobs lost and the unemployment rate dropped last month, but Republicans continued to blast the White House, "Where are the jobs, Mr. President?"

Unemployment fell slightly from a 26-year high of 9.5 percent to 9.4 percent, according to the Labor Department's July report. It was the first time in more than a year that the jobless rate decreased.

The economy lost 247,000 jobs, down from the revised 443,000 shed in June, bringing the total number of jobs lost since the recession began in December 2007 to 6.7 million.

Reid called the report "good news." But he also made clear, "Many Americans still continue to struggle as a result of this economic crisis. Over the next several weeks, long-term unemployed workers will begin exhausting their unemployment compensation benefits. Some estimates put the number of unemployed workers who have used up their benefits by the end of September at 500,000. By the end of the year, the number of unemployed workers who will exhaust their benefits will total 1.5 million."

"With the job market as depressed as it is, most of these workers will not be able to find work," he added. "They will then have no means by which to take care of their families."

The Senate leader also said, "Soon after Congress returns to Washington, we will need to address this matter... There is an economic case to be made for extending unemployment benefits. Last year, when analyzing the effectiveness of various stimulus proposals, Mark Zandi found that extended unemployment benefits generated $1.64 for every dollar of cost. That means unemployment benefits are a sound investment."

The White House had its top economist give a "clear-eyed assessment" of its controversial $787 billion stimulus, ahead of the July jobs report.

Council of Economic Advisers chairperson Christina Romer told the Economic Club of Washington D.C. on Thursday the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is working by "helping to slow the decline and change the trajectory of the economy."

She called the frequent criticism that the continued increase in unemployment proves the stimulus is not working, a "fallacy" akin to "decid[ing] that the medicine is useless" when an infection gets worse.

But House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) remained unfazed, saying the Obama administration's "trillion-dollar 'stimulus' has fallen woefully short of creating jobs promised."

Nearly six months ago, the Administration promised its 'stimulus' would provide a 'jolt' to our economy, create jobs immediately, and hold unemployment below eight percent," Boehner added. "Yet more than two million Americans have lost their jobs since the 'stimulus' became law. Every American has the right to ask 'Where are the jobs, Mr. President?' "

The stimulus signed in February by President Barack Obama raised unemployment benefits by $25. It also extended benefits by 20 weeks, and by 33 weeks in states with high unemployment rates.

A total of 12 million Americans have benefited from the additional $25, according to the Labor Department.

Reid's comment about extending jobless benefits follows Romer's statement last Sunday on CNN's State of the Union that the White House would do so.

"As it's running out and as we get to the end of the year when that program would naturally end, thinking about what to do going forward is absolutely on the table and something we'll be working with Congress," she said.

Lawmakers return from their summer break on Sept. 8.

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