Unemployed Workers of America Unite

The long-term jobless Americans – The 99ers – are uniting to raise the government’s awareness of their plight. Grassroots activist groups are springing up around the nation to petition lawmakers for jobless benefits’ extension. The jobless are conducting letter-writing campaigns and rallies to stretch the unemployment benefits beyond the 99-week limit. An estimated 14.8 million Americans are unemployed, with 6.2 million of them jobless for the last 27 weeks. Furthermore, there are 8.5 million Americans that are collecting jobless benefits. So far, the cost of jobless claims is a hefty $319 billion.

But with the tumultuous economic situation of the United States, a growing number of unemployed Americans are exhausting their benefits. An estimation shows that almost 3.5 million people have fallen of the rolls, though some of them already got a job. That is why advocates are pursuing the Congress to add another tier of jobless benefits. They argue that the additional weeks will cover the unemployed, while giving the economy ample time to recover and create job opportunities. However, the Congress has little appetite to extend the claims, since the measure to extend jobless benefits for three more months failed in the House of Representatives.

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