Senate Passes Unemployment Benefits Extension

Yesterday, the Senate passed a bill extending unemployment benefits 98-0. The House is expected to approve the bill and the President Obama is also expected to sign it. NY State, which has already extended unemployment benefits to 79 weeks for the longterm unemployed, would get another 20 weeks because its unemployment rate is higher than 8.5% (it was 8.9% in September; the NYC rate is 10.3%). The NY State Labor Dept.'s Twitter has been keeping followers apprised of the bill's progress.