As the Politics Play Out, Key Jobless Benefit Lapses
An emergency jobless-benefits program due to expire this weekend would pinch the finances of more than a million Americans, setting the stage for the what could become lawmakers' first flashpoint of the midterm election year.
While the program's end would barely dent the broader economy, the money at stake is meaningful. The federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation, launched during the middle of the recession, pays on average $300 a week to 1.3 million long-term jobless who have exhausted the roughly 26 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits most states provide. If extended,...