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“EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION PROGRAM” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Senate section on pages S15806 on Nov. 24, 2003.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION PROGRAM
Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, I rise to express my support for extending the Temporary Unemployment Compensation Program.
As we approach the holiday season, many unemployed workers are approaching the end of their eligibility for unemployment insurance. Unemployed workers who exhaust their benefits between now and the end of the year will be eligible for 13 weeks of extended benefits but those who exhaust their eligibility after December 31 will be out of luck. The program will have terminated and they will not be eligible for extended benefits.
According to the most recent reports from the Department of Labor, there are 337,000 people unemployed in Ohio, an increase of 39 percent from November 1999. In Michigan, 379,000 are unemployed, up 105 percent from November 1999. Another 177,000 are looking for work in Wisconsin, an increase of 90 percent. To put these numbers in perspective, during the last recession from November 1987 to November 1992, unemployment in Ohio increased by 21 percent, Michigan unemployment increased by 17 percent and in Wisconsin unemployment actually fell by 7 percent.
Even these numbers do not fully describe the challenges facing low and semi-skilled workers in the midwest. Although the Labor Department's household survey indicates more than 337,000 individuals are unemployed in Ohio, our state Department of Jobs and Family Services report that only about 130,000 are collecting unemployment insurance benefits. The remaining 200,000 workers have either exhausted their benefits or never qualified for them in the first place because they have been existing on a series of part time and temporary jobs that do not count toward unemployment compensation. DJFS reports also indicate that 2,000 to 2,500 individuals per week exhaust their state level unemployment benefits and apply for TEUC benefits. The number of individuals receiving TEUC benefits--about 25,000--has remained almost unchanged since July of 2002, indicating that as one cadre of individual leaves the system, another group takes their place.
Although the recent employment numbers from the Department of Labor appear hopeful, they may promise more than they deliver. Over the past 4 years, summer and fall employment gains in Ohio have been followed by winter and spring job losses. This cycle has remained consistent for the past 4 years. Equally important, the data appear to indicate that even if weekly unemployment claims are leveling out, they are doing so at twice the level of comparable times of the year in 1999. Consequently, unless we extend the TEUC program, many individuals will exhaust their state unemployment benefits during the most difficult period of the year to find employment but have no eligibility for TEUC benefits to tide them over until hiring picks up in the summer.
The dead of winter is a particularly difficult time to be out of work in Ohio. Jobs are more difficult to locate and heating bills drive up household expenses. This is not the time to be making life more difficult for the low- and semi-skilled workers who are having the most difficult time readjusting to the realities of the new economy. Although I hope and pray the improving economy will generate new jobs for Ohio workers, we continue to have about 130,000 individuals collecting unemployment insurance each week. Unless we extend the TEUC program, many individuals will exhaust their state unemployment benefits just when they need them the most. We need to address this issue before Congress adjourns to ensure that people receive the help they need.
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