Tens of thousands of unemployed workers in New Jersey, Nevada, and Rhode Island were cut off of their final unemployment insurance (UI) benefits this week, as federal UI benefits continue to wind down. Over most of the past three years, additional weeks of UI benefits were available for those searching for work but unable to find a job in states facing high unemployment. However, as I’ve...
off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
Fewer Weeks of Benefits Available to Unemployed Workers in 24 States, Cont.
June 26, 2012
As my previous post explained, cuts took effect in 24 states this week in the number of available weeks of federal emergency unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. That’s due to changes...
Fewer Weeks of Benefits Available to Unemployed Workers in 24 States
June 25, 2012
Starting this week, workers in 24 states who exhaust their regular unemployment insurance (UI) benefits before they find a job will have fewer weeks of additional federal assistance available through the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program. This cut in EUC benefits resulted from the 
legislation enacted in February
that continued EUC payments through the end of the year but...
Pricing Carbon Pollution Pays Off in Northeast
June 13, 2012
Global warming may be off Congress’ radar screen for now, but a group of northeastern states have operated coordinated cap and trade programs to “put a price” on carbon pollution since 2008 through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI raised over $40 million last...
More Long-Term Unemployed to Lose Benefits in June
May 30, 2012
As the New York Times pointed out yesterday, federal unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for the long-term unemployed continue to wind down. Payments through the Extended Benefit (...
230,000 Long-Term Unemployed Lost Jobless Benefits This Week
May 14, 2012
Payments under the Extended Benefits (EB) program ended in eight states on Sunday, cutting more than 200,000 people – all of whom have been looking for work for over a year – from unemployment insurance (UI). This is just the latest round of cuts, and, with this round, more than 400,000 people have now lost benefits as EB payments have ended...
A Look at the New Unemployment Insurance Deal
February 17, 2012
Congress voted today to continue federal emergency unemployment insurance (UI). The legislation gives unemployed workers a far better deal than UI legislation that the House passed last December. It also rejects extreme proposals in the House bill (see...
House-Senate Conference the Wrong Venue for Major Unemployment Insurance Reform
February 14, 2012
Both parties have agreed for years that the unemployment insurance (UI) system needs reform. The bipartisan, blue-ribbon Norwood Commission in the mid-1990s called for changes to strengthen the permanent Extended Benefits program, improve the UI system’s solvency, and increase access for low-wage...
Want to Promote Job Training and Adult Education? Then Fund Them Adequately
February 10, 2012
House Republicans say that the proposals they are pushing in negotiations over continuing emergency federal unemployment insurance (UI) will “promot[e] more job search and education and training needed to help the unemployed get back to work sooner.” In reality, those changes would be fundamentally unfair to...