Number of the Day Shows Impact of Stimulus Stalemate

That’s how many days it’s been since anyone was eligible for extra unemployment benefits from the federal government.

Emergency federal initiatives provided out-of-work Americans with an extra $300-$600 a week to supplement their regular state-provided unemployment benefits for most of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the most recent program, which provided $300 a week for six weeks, was only set to last for the workweek through Sept. 5. In the absence of a new package of relief measures—the subject of months of failed negotiations in Congress—people on unemployment insurance are getting just state-administered benefits, which average $305 a week nationally. (Though some states are still doling out funds from the last supplemental program, they are retroactive.) 

While the unemployment rate fell to 7.9% in September, down from 8.4% in August, there are still 12.6 million people out of work, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. On Thursday night, Democrat lawmakers passed a $2.2 trillion bill in the House that would reinstate the $600 supplement, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, called it a “liberal wishlist.”