By David Lightman, Halimah Abdullah and Grace Gagliano
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON – An estimated 212,500 people across the United States are in danger of exhausting their federal unemployment benefits this week because a Republican senator has blocked Congress from considering an extension.
It’s the second time in as many months that a Republican has led an effort to bar the Senate from considering an extension of jobless benefits. While the money is expected eventually to be paid retroactively, the delay creates a host of problems for people who are out of work and the agencies that assist them.
“Lost in this discussion is that these are people who became unemployed through no fault of their own, and they are searching for jobs in the worst job market in years,” said Michael Thurmond, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Labor.