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Q: Who gets unemployment benefits?
A: An unemployment benefit check can be obtained by workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own and meet other eligibility requirements. Workers can get up to 26 weeks of benefits.
The Labor Department reported 17.3 million claims for unemployment benefits between March 2007-08. The department announced Thursday 381,000 people filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, a slight drop from the earlier week.
Q: How much do Americans get in unemployment benefits?
A: Benefits are based on a percentage of a person's earnings, so it is different for everyone. The average weekly unemployment benefit check is $299.14. The highest weekly state check is Hawaii's $404.39, and the lowest is $178.67 in Mississippi.
Q: How many people are close to exhausting their unemployment benefits in the United States?
A: The Labor Department reports that 732,710 exhausted their 26 weeks of unemployment benefits in January, February and March. If that rate continues, 2.9 million Americans will have lost their unemployment checks by the end of the year.
(The Labor Department reported 2.7 million people exhausted their benefits between March 2007-08.)
Q: What did congressional Democrats want to do?
A: Democrats wanted to give an extra 13 weeks of unemployment benefit checks to all unemployed Americans who exhausted their regular 26 weeks. States with high unemployment (6 percent or more) would also get an extra 13 weeks of checks.
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 The White House threatened to veto that legislation, saying it would prefer giving extra unemployment checks only to states with high unemployment rates.
Q: What was the compromise?
A: The compromise will allow all unemployed Americans to get an extra 13 weeks of unemployment benefits after they exhaust their regular 26 weeks of unemployment checks.
Q: What were the changes?
A: The provision giving additional unemployment benefits to high unemployment states was eliminated. Added was a requirement making people work for 20 weeks before drawing unemployment checks.
Democrats say that will keep 10 percent of the unemployed from drawing benefits. But Republicans said leaving it out would allow people to work for days and then get months of unemployment benefits.
Q: How much will it cost?
A: Lawmakers expect the extra unemployment assistance to cost the country $12.5 billion over two years.
[Associated
Press; By JESSE J. HOLLAND]
Copyright 2008 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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