The Senate approved a House bill to extend unemployment benefits by at least seven weeks on Thursday, sending the measure to President Bush on the same day the Labor Department reported continuing claims for jobless benefits hit a 26-year high.
The Senate bill extends benefits by seven weeks. It would extend them for 13 weeks in states with unemployment rates higher than 6%.
The House approved the measure on Oct. 3.
The current U.S. jobless rate is 6.5%.
U.S. workers are facing a gloomy job market. Earlier Thursday, the Labor Department reported that first-time jobless claims rose to a 16-year high of 542,000 in the latest week. The number of people receiving benefits rose to 4.01 million in the week ending Nov. 8, the highest level in 26 years.
OMG! They pigs are doing something good.