If Congress does not extend the unemployment benefits program, the consequences will be serious

If Congress does not extend the unemployment benefits program, the consequences will be serious. The Obama administration estimates that if Congress does not extend the unemployment benefits program, about 6 million people will not be able to receive benefits in 2012...

If Congress does not extend the unemployment benefit program, the consequences will be serious. The Obama administration estimates that if Congress does not extend the unemployment benefit program, about 6 million people will not receive unemployment benefits from the federal government in 2012. In states with higher unemployment rates, federal funds guarantee up to 99 weeks of benefits for unemployed people. If the program ends, newly unemployed people will have to rely on state unemployment benefits, which typically only provide 26 weeks. Unemployment benefits have been extended several times due to the bad economy. It is unclear whether federal unemployment benefits will be extended, and it has become a focus of the bipartisan budget policy battle. Analysts warn that canceling welfare benefits for millions of unemployed people will harm the economy as it recovers. Michel, director of the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington, said: "If the unemployed have no money to spend, the consumer economy will decline. Therefore, unemployment benefits are one of the effective means of creating jobs." Analysts estimate that if benefits for the long-term unemployed are not extended, GDP will decrease by 0.3%. However, organizations such as the Heritage Foundation that oppose the extension of unemployment benefits believe that unemployment benefits do not stimulate the economy but encourage the unemployed to continue looking for jobs that do not actually exist. Half of the jobs lost during the recession were in manufacturing and construction, and most of them will never come back. The Heritage Foundation said the increase in unemployment benefits to 99 weeks increased the unemployment rate by 0.5%. Shirk, a policy analyst at the foundation, said: "The unemployed are looking for jobs similar to those before, but the previous jobs no longer exist. Therefore, during the period of unemployment, they spend most of their time looking for jobs that are impossible to find. The only legitimate reason for extending unemployment benefits is its humanitarian significance." Among the 13.3 million unemployed people in the country, about 43% have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks. Holzer, a professor at Georgetown University, said: "Most of the long-term unemployed used to have good jobs, but they have lost them permanently. If their unemployment benefits eventually run out, what options should they choose?" Many experts believe that job retraining for the unemployed, especially in the construction industry and some manufacturing industries, will not necessarily help older people. Holzer said that it is difficult for unemployed people over the age of 50 to return to the workplace and get training. Obtaining a new diploma at the age of 55 is different from getting it at the age of 25. The ultimate outcome for some long-term unemployed may be to find lower-paying jobs, but even such jobs are in short supply, with 4.6 people competing for one position. Michel said: "Three out of four unemployed people have no job opportunities. In today's labor market, most unemployed people will eventually be unable to find a job no matter how hard they try."