Over 1 Million People to Lose Unemployment Benefits

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Bloomberg is reporting Congress may limit total unemployment insurance benefits to 99 weeks. Because of the record long term unemployed, that's going to kick off over a million people still collecting and also being counted in the unemployment rate!

The lawmakers may have reached their limit.

They are quietly drawing the line at 99 weeks of aid, a mark that hundreds of thousands of Americans have already reached. In coming months, the number of those who will receive their final government check is projected to top 1 million.

Guess what that will do to consumer spending and GDP? Here's the thing. While we have people unemployed for two years, unemployment insurance only covers 48% of the workforce. The rest, who also cannot find a job, get nothing. If they do not have kids, they cannot get housing. They pretty much can only get food stamps.

What about the other half? You're talking 50% of the workforce population which has gotten no help.

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1 million is just the start

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According to the article:

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 44 percent of the jobless have been out of work for at least six months, the biggest share since the government began keeping track in 1948.
About 3.4 million Americans have been out of work for more than a year, according to a study by the Pew Fiscal Analysis Initiative.

We are probably looking at millions of people losing unemployment benefits in the coming months.

Interviews with state officials found that in New York, 57,000 people have received their last check. In Florida, 130,000 are no longer eligible as are about 30,000 Ohioans.
Those numbers will grow, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which projects that more than 400,000 may soon begin losing benefits every month.

In couple months those 700,000 people hired by the Census are going to lose their jobs as well.

Some Republicans say cutting off aid will spur people to find work.
“We have study after study that shows people are more anxious to get a job after they run out of benefits,” said Representative John Linder of Georgia, the top Republican on the Ways and Means subcommittee with jurisdiction over the unemployment program.

yes, I'm sure that people do get more anxious to get another job when they run out of money. What the study doesn't show is whether they actually get another job.

there is a real problem here

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in that contracts, perma temps and so on have absolutely nothing and as you point out, the inaccurate tally of those unemployed or without work.

But frankly, while I find it horrific that the unemployment situation is what it is, I find the hiding of those who cannot even get UI or anything even more so.

They are never mentioned and look at that, they are half the total U.S. workforce.

"lies, damn lies and statistics" - employment numbers

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You point to what I think is the biggest farce about employment statistics; a case study in "lies, damn lies and statistics", the fact that employment statistics are treated as a 'zero sum game'. For example, an administrative assistant making $45,000/year with full benefits gets terminated shows up this month as a 'job lost'. That person then gets a part time job making $7,500/year with no benefits and shows up as a 'job gained' in the next months statistics. One job lost , one job gained = zero sum. But, in terms of 'standard of living', obviously the worker has not 'broke-even.'

boy howdy!

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Of all the government statistics, it's the job/unemployment/occupational ones that need a complete overhaul.