The fact that rate of unemployment is rapidly rising, has set off panic alarms among people. The government is currently engaged in reviving the economy and helping out people who have lost their jobs, as a result of the economic recession. An important policy which the Obama administration, Senate and Congress have managed to pass is that of the unemployment benefit or extension 2012. This has led to it being dubbed as the 'Obama unemployment extension' or the 'Federal unemployment benefit'. Unemployment Benefits and Policies Since the year 1932, some of the states, along with Federal government have implemented what is termed as an unemployment benefit. The United States Congress passed the Federal Unemployment Tax Act. In accordance with the act, employers had to pay a specified payroll tax to the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS then contributes these funds in a state-wise proportion, which funds the unemployment insurance and job service programs. In times when economic conditions force layoffs, the Federal Unemployment Tax Act provides for half cost of extended unemployment benefits. Apart from that, a fund is also provided so that the states can borrow from the Federal government, when the originally allocated fund is used up. Here is the summary of the benefit's implementation.

• Any worker unemployed without any fault or as a result of layoff or job cuts or closure of the company or unit or department, becomes eligible for the benefit.
• Based upon the reports and proofs of the earlier earnings, 36% average weekly benefit of the individuals average weekly salary is provided.
• Self employed and part-time workers are not eligible for the benefit.
• The application for the benefit takes 2 weeks to be enforced and is stopped as soon as jobs are created or the beneficiaries get jobs.
• The application process and fund distribution is handled by the state unemployment agency.
• As per the norms of United States labor department, the benefit is provided for maximum time period of 26 weeks, though Federal laws can be modified through Social Security Act, for longer extension, which is what exactly the act implies.

Unemployment Extension 2012 Many individuals and families who have exhausted their time period, funds and weeks are known as 99ers. People who have thus exhausted the weeks become eligible for the funds from the extension. As per the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC), the Federal and State governments can provide 4 tiers of unemployment benefits. The tier 1 extends to 20 weeks, the second one to 14 weeks, the third one to 13 weeks and fourth to 6 weeks. The second phase is that of Extended Benefits which extends to 13 to 20 weeks. The United States Senate, in order to curb all the causes of unemployment in the United States sanctioned $34 billion for the Extension phase, in July, 2010. The latest decision by President Obama, backed by the Congress, has extended the claims period for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits, by two months. Here are the new deadlines for unemployment insurance benefits, as of now.

Unemployment Insurance Claims	Benefit Period	Deadline For Claims
Regular Claim	Up to 26 Weeks	Once Unemployed
1st Tier	Up to 20 Weeks	February 26, 2012
2nd Tier	Up to 14 Weeks	March 4, 2012
3rd Tier	Up to 13 Weeks	March 4, 2012
4th Tier	Up to 6 Weeks	March 4, 2012
FED-ED Extension	Up to 20 Weeks	March 4, 2012

This new deadline extension is going to help thousands of US families tide over, through unemployment insurance, as the economy is still unable to create enough jobs. In every US state, there will be a sigh of relief, as the new extension has already taken effect.