Today the U.S. Senate passed a bill to extend filing for unemployment until February 2010. Initially, the cutoff for benefits was Dec 31, 2009, but due to the increase in unemployment, it was extemded 2 months.

Currently, any unemployed individual has the opportunity to apply for benefits which would cover them for 99 weeks. Resources state that with the lack of funds available, that time may be shortened to only 26 weeks, depending upon the legislature of each state.

Currently 1 in 10 A mericans are unemployed. This percentage only applies to the unemployed who receive benefits. This number does not reflect those who don't receive any financial assistance.

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