Mounting Impact: 1.7 Million Now Cut Off Unemployment Insurance

WASHINGTON – More than five weeks since the expiration of the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, nearly 1.7 million people have now been cut off their unemployment benefits, according to a new analysis from Ways and Means Committee Democrats. The estimate includes the number of people in each state who have lost coverage since the Dec. 28 expiration. Every week, 72,000 people, on average, are losing their unemployment benefits nationwide without an extension of the program. Meanwhile, the vast majority of Americans support an extension of federal unemployment insurance, which has never been discontinued with the rate of long-term unemployment as high as it remains today. House Republicans have blocked multiple efforts by Democrats to bring up legislation to extend the program on the House floor.

"Republicans in Congress must open their eyes and ears to the growing number of people who are desperately seeking work without any unemployment benefits," said Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI). "Long-term unemployment remains a monumental challenge individually and for our economy, which is exactly why Republicans should quickly join with Democrats to renew this important program."

*North Carolina was ineligible for the federal unemployment insurance

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