Strapped States Raising Taxes on Employers

Reach 500K mark as employers again cut back

(AP) - New applications for unemployment insurance reached the half-million mark last week for the first time since November, a sign that employers are likely cutting jobs again as the economy slows. The Labor Department said today that initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 last week to 500,000, the fourth increase in the past five weeks. Wall Street economists forecast that claims would drop. More»

Measure now goes to President Obama for his signature

(AP) - Congress has approved legislation to restore unemployment insurance to people who have been out of work for six months or more, ending a seven-week interruption that caused 2.5 million people to lose benefits averaging about $300 a week. The 272-152 House vote sends the measure to President Obama, who has promised to immediately sign it. More»

Employers show confidence, but hedged with caution

(NEWSER) - With the economy on an upswing, employers are feeling a tad more confident—enough to bring on more temporary workers, who can easily be let go if things go south again. Temp hiring has risen for 4 months—longer than the aftermath of previous recessions, when employers started hiring permanent workers after just 2 or 3 months, the New York Times reports. More»

(NEWSER) - A rough milestone on the jobless front: The average length of time it takes to find a job—26.2 weeks—now exceeds the standard length of unemployment benefits—26 weeks. That's first time it's happened since the Labor Department began keeping stats 60 years ago, reports Bloomberg. The bit of good news for job-seekers is that Congress has temporarily extended benefits up to 59 weeks in hard-hit states and is working on another extension. More»

(NEWSER) - Years of tax and budget cuts have left the nation's unemployment system badly weakened just as it's most needed, the New York Times reports. At least a million applications are still stuck in the system and many applicants have to wait months for their first check. Sixteen states have exhausted their reserves and are now using borrowed money to pay unemployment checks. Many more are expected to join them before the year is out. More»