On the recordJuly 20, 2010
after months of obstruction, we have overcome a shameful effort by the Republican minority to block the extension of emergency unemployment benefits. Because of the obstructionism of those on the other side of the aisle, more than 2 and a half million unemployed Americans have seen their benefits terminated in recent weeks--49 days ago, to be exact. They are among the nearly 6.8 million Americans who have been out of work for more than half a year. That is the highest number of long-term unemployed we have had since we started keeping track in 1948. Again, this is the highest number of long-term unemployment we have had since 1948. In recent weeks, I have come to the Senate floor several times to share the heartbreaking letters and e-mails I have received from long-term unemployed workers in Iowa. These families are struggling to survive. These Iowans are trying their hardest, doing everything they can to find any kind of work. But the jobs just aren't there. Officially, there are five job seekers for every new job opening. Unofficially, and more accurately, there are more than eight job seekers for every opening. Here on the chart, it says that when you include the discouraged workers who aren't counted in the official numbers, unemployment has gone up to 26 million. Yet there are 3.2 million job openings. So there is between five and eight unemployed workers for every job opening.
