
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 27, 1993                   TAG: 9307270131
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

LONG-TERM JOBLESS BENEFITS RESTORED

The Labor Department has restored the 50 percent cut in the number of weeks that long-term unemployed workers can receive federal emergency jobless benefits.

The department said Monday that, effective immediately, the benefit duration would be 20 to 26 weeks, depending on the local unemployment situation.

The department said earlier this month it had made the reduction after Congress amended the unemployment insurance act. It had interpreted the language to call for cuts in benefits whenever the national unemployment rate averaged less than 7 percent over a two-month period.

The rate slipped to 6.9 percent in May, and the length of benefit payments was cut July 11 from 26 weeks to 15 weeks in Alaska, California, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont and West Virginia. In the other states and territories, the length of payments were cut to 10 weeks from 20.

- Associated Press

by CNB