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Bush signs bill to extend jobless benefits Jobless insurance checks lag here

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Jarred by new jobless alarms, the Senate agreed Thursday to extend unemployment benefits and sent the legislation to President Bush, who has reversed his earlier opposition because of rising job losses.

The measure was passed in the House, 368-28, on Oct. 3.

As for the jobless benefits, about 1.2 million people would exhaust their unemployment insurance by the end of the year without the extension, sponsors said.

The measure is estimated to cost about $5.7 billion, although economists put the positive impact at $1.64 for every dollar spent on jobless benefits because the money helps sustain other jobs and restores consumer confidence.

"Putting money in the hands of unemployed families means they will be able to pay their rent and utility bills, buy groceries and clothe their children," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said after the voice vote in the Senate. "It is money that will create economic growth in America."

The legislation as approved would provide seven additional weeks of payments to people who have exhausted their benefits or will exhaust them soon.

Those in states where the unemployment rate is above 6 percent would be entitled to an additional 13 weeks above the 26 weeks of regular benefits. Benefit checks average about $300 a week nationwide. In Arizona, it is $240 a week, according to The Associated Press.

The benefits provided would be in addition to 13 weeks of federally funded extended benefits approved by Congress last June.

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment insurance rose last week to 542,000, the highest level since 1992. U.S. job losses have totaled 1.2 million this year as the economy slowed because of the worst credit crisis in seven decades.

"Because of the tight job market, the president believes it would be appropriate to further extend unemployment benefits, and he would sign the legislation," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said in a statement.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Thursday that the financial crisis now plaguing the world economy is something that happens "once or twice" in 100 years.

The need to address the deteriorating job situation was one area that everyone could agree on. "The recent financial and credit crisis has slowed the economy, and it's having an impact on job creation," Perino said in urging Congress to pass the benefits extension.

Congress has enacted federally funded extensions seven times in the past 50 years during economic slumps — in 1958, 1961, 1972, 1975, 1982, 1991 and 2002.

The Bush administration contends that past extensions occurred only when the jobless rate was considerably higher.

Unemployment insurance is a joint program between states and the federal government that is al-most completely funded by em-ployer taxes, either state or federal.