Unemployment Insurance Extension will Strengthen Economy

After weeks of Senate Republicans stalling and obstruction Senate Democrats overcame their fillibuster to provide unemployment benefits for families across America.

But, unemployment benefits don’t just help the unemployed, they are one of the best ways to give the whole economy a boost and create jobs.

• The non-partisan CBO concluded that extending unemployment benefits is the most efficient way for the government to generate economic growth in 2010 and 2011.
   
• Nobel Prize-winning Economist Paul Krugman has expressed his strong support for extending unemployment insurance, noting that “aid to the unemployed creates jobs quickly.”
   
• According to testimony by Mark Zandi, Moodys.com Chief Economist and former adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), “No form of the fiscal stimulus has proved more effective during the past two years than emergency UI benefits.”
   
• Recent reports by the Economic Policy Institute found that “Providing Unemployment Insurance both assists the unemployed and generates jobs”

Economists agree -- this an important step to help American families and continue our path to economic recovery.