Talk about a hard landing: About 2 million Americans, including 400,000 in California, will abruptly lose their unemployment benefits after December unless Congress votes to continue federal funding for extended benefits.
....About 2.1 million of the 5 million Americans receiving jobless benefits are on a federal extension that will end after Dec. 29, even if they have weeks remaining in their federal claim, according to Maurice Emsellem of the National Employment Law Project.
"It's a hard cutoff," he said. "There is no phaseout,"....
Congress has renewed extended benefits 10 times since the current round started in June 2008. At its peak, the program provided up to 73 weeks of benefits (99 weeks if you include state benefits), but now it provides only 14 to 47 weeks, depending on the state's unemployment rate. In California, the maximum is 47 (73 including state benefits).
..............Gary Larson, 48, a beverage marketing executive with an MBA from UCLA who has been out of work - for the first time in his career - since February. "I'm a white, middle-class guy who grew up in Pleasanton. There are people like me who seem to have the finest pedigrees who are not finding work," said Larson, now living in West Hollywood.
Larson thinks age may be a factor in his inability to land a job, but so is his profession. Marketing is the last place companies hire when their business picks up, he said. "It's seen as a variable expense you can easily shut off or turn on. The results are intangible."
Asked if federal benefits have allowed him to be more picky about a new job, he said, "It could be true for some people. I'm very, very motivated to get off unemployment. It's not enough money for anything but the basics."
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