Even though the U.S. job market
is gaining strength, there are still a lot of unemployed Americans. Yet
only a fraction of them are receiving financial aid from the government.
Fewer than 25
percent of those out of work are signed up for weekly unemployment
benefits, a near-record low since the government began tracking this
data in 1987. That's a sharp turnaround from just after the recession,
when as many as three-quarters of those out of work received help, a
record high.
The drop
counters a common assumption that most of those out of work receive
unemployment benefits. It is partly a sign of an improving job market:
Layoffs have plummeted and Americans seem more confident in their
prospects for finding a job. But the drop also reflects the fact that
state and federal benefit programs have been downsized from where they
were just a few years ago. Unemployment benefits had been extended
nationwide for as long as 99 weeks in 2009.
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