Washington, DC – Data released by the federal government July 18 show that many states continue to suffer from consistently high rates of unemployment. House Republican leaders are blocking efforts to restore emergency benefits for the long-term unemployed.

About 3 million people have lost unemployment insurance since Congress failed to renew jobless benefits in late December. At the time, Democrat leaders in Congress failed to insist on the inclusion of extended jobless benefits in the budget compromise, giving Republicans veto power over legislation to restore aid for long-term unemployed workers.

It is telling that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made no mention of restoring emergency unemployment benefits in his July 18 press release on the June unemployment rates.

Steff Yorek, a spokesperson for Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated, “It is time for both parties of big business to address the crisis unemployed workers are facing. We need benefits for long-term unemployed workers and the benefits need to be retroactive so as to cover everyone who was cut off.”

According to the June unemployment report, Rhode Island has a 7.9% unemployment rate, Nevada 7.7%, California 7.4% and Illinois 7.1%.

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