Washington Post (05/11/12) Michael A. Fletcher

In the coming days, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Colorado, and Connecticut will see a reduction in the maximum unemployment benefit period, which will leave more than 230,000 Americans without unemployment insurance. The National Employment Law Project says the latest reduction brings the total number of long-term unemployed who have lost federal extended unemployment benefits this year to 400,000 individuals in 27 states. According to NELP executive director Christine Owens, “These cuts are coming faster than the economy is improving, which means more workers will have to survive without any jobless assistance, and families will have less money to put back into the economy.”