That's One Percent Of All Americans!

The stupidity of Congressional Republicans in not extending unemployment benefits. You'd think, out of sheer self-interest, to avoid the drop in consumer demand, Congressional Republicans would relent. But no, they don't see their self-interest as being involved - odd, that - and their desire to punish the unemployed is so great they'd rather just proceed:

Meanwhile, the total number of unemployed Americans receiving benefits is dropping sharply because their aid is ending. About 350,000 people stopped receiving benefits in the week of June 19. Most of them were cut off because Congress has yet to extend federal jobless aid.

The Labor Department estimates that about 1.7 million have lost benefits as of last week, after extended unemployment insurance expired in late May. Those numbers could reach 3.3 million by the end of the month if Congress doesn't pass an extension after it returns from recess next week.

During the recession, Congress added up to 73 weeks of extra benefits on top of the 26 weeks typically provided by states. But Senate Republicans have blocked efforts to continue those extra benefits, citing concerns about the size of the federal budget deficit.

...Other economists noted that the end of extended benefits could cut Americans' incomes by as much as $41 billion, potentially reducing consumer spending in the coming months.