Jobless Claims Bill Passes To Help Unemployment

By: Mary Smith
Staff Writer
Published: Mar 11, 2010

Senate passes a new jobless bill to extend help for unemployment claims.

The Senate voted 62-36 for the jobless bill to extend key pieces of the economic stimulus package. The funds will be used to help the unemployed and will provide money to help states. States that are financially strapped can use the funds to pay for health care.

"The bill is not a second stimulus, but it's going to deliver badly needed relief to Americans, who are hurting," New York Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer said in a statement. "It would be cruel, even inhumane, to tell these people that their unemployment benefits expire."

Conservatives say it adds too much to the $12.5 trillion national debt. Six Republicans joined all but one Democrats, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, in voting for the measure. The bill will add approximately $149 billion to the deficit over the next year and a half.

The measure now heads to the House of Representatives. House Democrats have pushed for more aggressive job-creation measures in the face of the worst U.S. economic downturn since the 1930s. President Barack Obama said the vote would help small businesses and people who are out of work.

"I am grateful to senators in both parties who took one more step forward today in getting our nation back on a solid economic footing," Obama said in a statement.

Current United States Unemployment Rate

The current national unemployment rate in the United States is just below 10 percent. This data is collected from the states to calculate the average. This number only counts for workers claiming unemployment benefits.

Most financial analysts believe the national rate is more than 17 percent. This includes the number of people filing unemployment claims and those that are not or have given up looking for a job. There are more than 15 million people out of work in the United States.

How Unemployment Occurs Is Disputed

Unemployment occurs when a person is without work. The prevalence of unemployment is usually measured using the unemployment rate. This rate is defined as the percentage of those in the labor force who are out of work.

The unemployment rate is also used in economic studies. Mainstream economics believes that unemployment is inevitable and necessary to prevent inflation. However, this has been disputed by some schools of heterodox economics.

The causes of unemployment are also disputed. Most financial analysts agree that economics emphasizes unemployment resulting from insufficient demand for goods and services in the economy. However, others point to structural problems and inefficiencies inherent in labour markets.

This can also involve mismatches between demand and supply of laborers with the necessary skill set. Sometimes this is induced by disruptive technologies or globalization. Behavioral economics highlights phenomena such as sticky wages and efficiency wages, which may lead to the unemployment rate.