New Local West Virginia Data on Impact of Not Extending Unemployment Insurance

If Republicans allows federal unemployment insurance to expire, nearly 7,000 people in West Virginia will lose their insurance coverage immediately on Dec. 28, according to the new data from the WorkForce West Virginia. An additional 9,700 people in West Virginia will lose their coverage in the first six months of 2014 if Republicans continue to block an extension of the program, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Federal unemployment insurance took effect in 2008 and has been reauthorized several times since as Americans continue to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Despite the real progress the economy has made since its near collapse in 2008, there are still 1.3 million fewer jobs than there were before the recession began and long-term unemployment as a percentage of the unemployed is 37 percent, near historic highs. The average weekly unemployment benefit in West Virginia is $271.

Failure to extend federal unemployment insurance would also hurt job growth throughout the nation, costing the economy 240,000 jobs, according to the White House Council of Economic Advisers. The CEA estimates that in West Virginia alone, failing to extend the program will cost 1,173 jobs.

"The financial stakes could not be higher for so many families just as the holiday season approaches," said Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-Mich.). "Failing to extend this program would cut off a vital lifeline for job seekers as they try to get back on their feet during this difficult economic climate. To strengthen these families and the American economy, Congress must extend this crucial program."