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http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=789905&category=STATEAs more and more New Yorkers find themselves unemployed and unable to find work, Gov. David Paterson on Monday announced that he has submitted legislation that would allow the state to access an estimated $645 million in additional federal aid for the unemployed.
It would extend to 72 weeks from the current 59 weeks the period New York residents could collect unemployment. That's especially significant now, Labor Department officials said, because more than 56,000 unemployed New Yorkers, including more than 1,900 in the Capital Region, will be exhausting their 59 weeks of benefits next month.
What's more, Paterson is threatening to lay off 8,700 state workers.
About 34,800 residents in the Capital Region were unemployed in February, according to the Labor Department. That's 10,700 more than were unemployed in February 2008 — and the highest since the state began keeping such records in 1990.
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