Projo Biz Blog

Jobless workers nationwide, including several thousand in Rhode Island, would benefit from a bill approved Tuesday by the U.S. House of Representatives that would extend unemployment benefits for 13 weeks.

The House voted 331 to 83 for the bill that would affect 300,000 jobless workers in the U.S. who would run out of unemployment compensation at the end of September, as well as more than a million people expected to exhaust their benefits by year's end. U.S. Reps. Patrick Kennedy, D-RI, and Jim Langevin, D-RI, said they voted for the bill.

In a joint press release, the two congressmen said the bill will help 2,500 Rhode Islanders who are projected to run out of unemployment benefits by the end of September, and another 4,500 who will exhaust their benefits by year's end.

The bill would apply to workers in 27 states which have unemployment rates of 8.5 percent or higher. Rhode Island's jobless rate in August was 12.8 percent, with 73,300 people out of work.

The bill now goes to the U.S. Senate, where U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, is a co-sponsor of a similar measure.

 Tags  jobless benefits U.S. Rep. James Langevin U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy U.S. Sen. Jack reed

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