Most observers do not expect either of these bills to pass immediately, said Judy Conti, who watches the legislation for the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group. The legislation links the benefits to tax relief for the middle and upper class.
But, she said, a consensus is emerging in Washington, with both Republicans and Democrats backing benefit extensions. "One year is what everyone is talking about," she said. "What seems to be left is whether it will be paid for" or funded with deficit spending.
The debate in Washington continued as the number of unemployed grew by 276,000 to 15.1 million in November, the Labor Department said.
Many economists had been predicting the addition of nearly 150,000 jobs last month. The economy has recently flashed signs of gaining momentum with busier factories, rising auto sales, and a good start to the holiday shopping season. But that didn't translate into mass hiring in November.
"Only 39,000 jobs created in November is awful," said Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland. "After we back out health care and social services, which are largely government funded, the private sector is not creating permanent jobs - none, zero, nada."
Federal and state extensions to unemployment benefits began to be phased out last month. This month, 83,000 Pennsylvanians, including nearly 18,000 Philadelphia residents, will run out of benefits - more than ran out during the previous 11 months.
"We need Congress to vote yes to extending unemployment to help those of us who through no fault of our own" are out of work, said Mavis Menin, 63, of Glenside, who traveled to Washington on Wednesday to lobby Congress to extend benefits.
The average length of unemployment is now nearly 34 weeks - two months longer than the initial 26 weeks of unemployment benefits funded by states.
