Obama Signs Into Law Jobless Benefits Extension Bill
- By Corey Boles Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- President Barack Obama signed into law Friday legislation extending federal jobless benefits by up to 20 weeks on the same day the bleak employment picture was confirmed by another jump in the national unemployment rate. The U.S. Department of Labor said October's unemployment rate jumped to 10.2% from 9.8% in September as the economy shed another 190,000 jobs. Economists had expected the rate to increase, but the fact that nationally more than 1 in 10 people who are looking for work don't have a job is further evidence the economy has a long way to go before the effects of the recession have retreated. The U.S. economy grew 3.5% in the third quarter, signaling a formal end to the deepest recession in 70 years, but the job market continues to worsen. Long-term unemployed people in many states now can qualify for up to 99 weeks of benefits when combining federal and state assistance. Obama was scheduled to speak at 11:30 a.m. EST, when he is expected to address the economy. Jobless people living in all 50 states will get an additional 14 weeks federal assistance, while jobless people in states with a three-month average unemployment rate of at least 8.5% will receive a further six weeks of benefits. The measure will affect only those who already exhausted their unemployment benefits or will do so by the end of the year. The legislation also extends a popular $8,000 first-time home-buyer tax credit into next year and creates a new credit for existing property owners who buy a new home. Both credits are available on purchases agreed to through April 2010, with contracts completed by the end of next June. Income limits apply on both credits. A tax credit allowing big businesses to write off some of the losses they incurred against profits earned in earlier years was also included in the legislation. -By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601; corey.boles@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=eK%2FoC0VnMKIcpQjLj5%2BcGg%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.
