Over 7 Million Americans Unemployed

April 10th, 2009 by Reed Allmand

According to an article in the Star-Telegram, 7.4 million Americans are unemployed if you include the 1.54 million Americans receiving extended unemployment benefits.

The Labor Department said the tally of initial jobless claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 654,000, down from a revised 674,000 the previous week. Analysts expected claims to drop to 660,000. But the total number of laid-off Americans receiving unemployment rose to 5.84 million, from 5.75 million. That was the most on records dating from 1967 and higher than analysts expected. The 5.84 million continuing claims lag the initial claims data by a week and doesn’t include 1.54 million Americans that received benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program approved by Congress last year.

The most interesting part about these figures is that they don’t actually include the millions of Americans who either don’t qualify for unemployment insurance or have exhausted their unemployment benefits. It is important for each American worker to be fully aware of how their unemployment benefits work. How much would you receive if you suffered a job loss? How long would you receive the unemployment benefits? Would the unemployment benefits be enough to cover your expenses and debts? If you find that you would not receive unemployment benefits after a job loss or that the benefits would not be enough to cover your expenses and debts you may want to consider your bankruptcy options. A job loss is one of the biggest causes of debtors becoming overwhelmed by debt. You need to plan accordingly. If you are unemployed and cannot pay your expenses and/or debt, do not delay, speak with a Dallas-Fort Worth bankruptcy attorney today.