By ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Newly empowered Republicans want spending cuts of $5 billion to $6 billion a month as a condition for extending emergency unemployment benefits that are scheduled to expire next month for millions of Americans.
Up to 2 million people could lose the benefits – which average $310 a month nationwide – during the holiday season if the still Democratic-controlled Congress doesn’t act in the postelection lame-duck session. The expiration could affect as many as 5 million by the end of February.
With new employment figures Friday showing 14 million Americans still out of work last month and an unemployment rate stuck at 9.6 percent, President Barack Obama renewed his call for another extension “to help those hardest hit by the downturn while generating more demand in the economy.”