WASHINGTON - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin today made the following statement regarding the November jobs report, which showed that the long-term unemployment rate - as a percentage of all the unemployed - increased slightly from 36.1 percent to 37.3 percent in November. What’s more, the overall percentage of the labor force that has been out of work for six months-plus remains at 2.6 percent. Never before has Congress not extended emergency unemployment insurance when the long-term unemployment rate was above 1.3 percent, as highlighted in the White House Council of Economic Advisers report released yesterday.
“The long-term unemployment rate remains near record levels, having increased in November despite the progress our economy continues to make. The depth of the economic downturn was so severe that even with the real progress made there are still 1.3 million fewer jobs in the economy than when the recession began six years ago. It would be unprecedented for Congress to allow the emergency unemployment insurance to expire under the current economic conditions."
