(AP) -- Michigan lawmakers have approved a bill that would allow thousands of jobless residents to continue receiving extended federal unemployment benefits while cutting the length of state-level benefits for future filers.
The bill was approved mostly along party lines in both the Republican-led House and Senate on Wednesday and next goes to GOP Gov. Rick Snyder.
An estimated 150,000 unemployed people in Michigan would lose the federal benefits extended for up to 20 weeks unless the state approves a technical change contained in the bill.
Benefits for some would expire in April.
Democrats were angered because the bill also makes a permanent reduction to the length of time people filing for unemployment could receive state-level benefits beginning in 2012.
The number of weeks would drop from 26 to 20.
Michigan's jobless rate continues to drop after being among the nation's leaders for more than a year.
The state said Wednesday that February's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 10.4 percent. That's a decrease of three-tenths of a percentage point and is well below the February 2010 rate of 13.5 percent.
The Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth says total employment increased by 11,000 jobs.
The nation's unemployment rate for February was 8.9 percent. Michigan's jobless rate has declined steadily since reaching 14.1 percent in September 2009.
The number of unemployed fell below 500,000 for the first time since November 2008.
The state says job levels have increased since mid-2009 while the numbers of unemployed have fallen. There also are fewer workers active in the state's labor force.
Should lawmakers stop extending unemployment benefits? Tell us "Your Point of View" by voting in the poll below and leaving your comments on the debate!
(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
