Unemployment Benefits, Jobless Benefits | featured news

The number of Americans lining up for new jobless benefits fell last week for the first time since April, a hint that a slowdown in hiring last month may only be temporary.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in nine months, evidence that the job market is improving.

New claims for jobless benefits dipped last week and consumer spending increased in November for a fifth straight month, reinforcing views of a solid economic growth pace in the fourth quarter.

Republicans in the House have blocked a bill that would have extended jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed beyond the holiday season.

Employers appear to be laying off workers again as the economic recovery weakens. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits reached the half-million mark last week for the first time since November.

The Democrats' hard-won victory comes after the GOP tried to stall the $33.9-billion package for weeks. President Obama signed legislation extending unemployment benefits Thursday for 2.5 million jobless Americans, a hard-fought achievement his party will use to portray Republicans as callous to the needs of ordinary workers in a fall election campaign tied to the country's economic fate.

New U.S. claims for jobless benefits climbed more steeply than anticipated last week, according to a Labor Department report on Thursday that further underlined the drag on economic activity from persistently weak job markets.

The Senate failed to pass an extension of federal unemployment benefits last night on a vote of 58-41. The Senate's fourth attempt this month to pass an extension of federal unemployment benefits failed a cloture vote last night.

The demise of Democrats' jobs-agenda legislation means that unemployment benefits will phase out for more than 200,000 people a week. Governors who had counted on fresh federal aid will now have to consider more budget cuts, tax increases and layoffs of state workers.

Democratic officials said the House may try to revive the long-stalled jobless aid bill next week as a stand-alone bill shorn of controversial tax and spending provisions that prompted Senate Republicans to filibuster it on Thursday.

Republicans in the Senate have defeated an election-year bill to continue weekly jobless benefits for millions of long-term unemployed workers.