That means more job losses, on top of the 230,000 jobs lost already in the first 3 months of this year. In the past year, we've seen more than a million workers join the ranks of the unemployed-a clear sign of a recession-with no indication that the problem is easing.

Those out of work find themselves competing for a shrinking number of jobs. We have 7.8 million unemployed workers today, and only 3.9 million job openings-two workers for every job. Millions of Americans are left competing for too few jobs.

These losses are occurring in every sector of the economy. No one is immune. Increasingly, many of the jobless are well-educated, middle- class workers with years of experience. And recent veterans are also having a hard time finding work-11.2% of young male veterans serving after September 2001 are unemployed, and nearly 22,000 new veterans are now collecting unemployment benefits.

Women are being hit particularly hard. In the past year, the unemployment rate for adult women workers has gone up more rapidly than for men. Women's wages fell six times faster than men's wages last year. The problem is especially acute because women have far fewer savings than men to fall back on in hard economic times, and have much greater difficulty surviving a job loss or other economic hardship.

Chantell Anderson is a 34-year old mother in Frederick, Maryland, with years of experience in accounting. She's a good worker-at her last job, she received two raises in less than a year. But two weeks after her last raise, she was laid off, in September 2007. Since then, she has found it impossible to find even temporary work.

She's doing everything she can-sending out 20 applications a day, 7 days a week, knocking on doors. Yet she only gets a few calls back from potential employers, mostly to say that she's overqualified, or that there are just too many applicants. Even the temp agencies don't have any work for her.

Last month, her unemployment benefits ran out. Her husband is still working, but it's not enough. They bought a home two years ago with a 20% down payment and a fixed rate mortgage. But now that her unemployment benefits have run out and she still hasn't been able to find work, the family is struggling to make their payments and fear they'll lose their home to foreclosure.

It's a story being repeated in millions of families across the country today. Citizens across the board are feeling the pressure. Recent Gallup polls show that 87% of Americans think the economy is getting worse, and a record high 55% are worried they won't be able to maintain their standard of living.

Employees who still have their jobs are afraid they may be next on the chopping block. Family budgets are stretched to the limit by stagnant wages and soaring prices. The value of homes and retirement savings-which used to be a safety net-is plunging. We're now seeing the largest loss of wealth and savings by Americans since the Great Depression.

Since President Bush took office, the dollar has lost a third of its value. The stock market lost $2.7 trillion in the past year, the housing crisis wiped out $2.7 trillion in home values last year, and some economists believe we could lose as much as $8 trillion before it is over. The federal debt has soared by nearly $4 trillion-each household's share of the national debt has gone up $33,000. People are losing the security they've been struggling to acquire all their lives.

People deserve to know what the government is doing to help them. The Bush Administration and the Federal Reserve have no answer and no real relief for families. Earlier this month, I asked Ben Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve, what he plans to do to address the economic challenges facing our country. His answers were long on analysis but short on next steps. He's provided hundreds of billions of dollars in loans to stabilize banks, but had no recommendations to help families.

Yesterday, the Fed lowered interest rates again-but that's not going to put food on the table or pay the rent today. The strength of our economy has always rested on working men and women, and they deserve help too. We can't deny more relief to Main Street, and keep freely giving handouts to Wall Street.

We need to take the kinds of measures we've enacted in previous recessions. We know they work to stimulate the economy, and are urgently needed by working families to get through these tough times.

The first thing we need to do is extend unemployment compensation for Americans who have lost their jobs. In each recent recession, we have provided additional unemployment benefits, so that a pink slip won't have to mean a family's financial ruin. Extending unemployment benefits can help families stay afloat during this difficult time. It also puts money into the hands of those who are most likely to spend it and boost the economy. Each dollar spent on unemployment benefits leads to $1.64 of economic stimulus-it's one of the most cost-effective stimulus measures we can take.

Some say that it's too soon to act, since the unemployment rate is still low. But unemployment is rising quickly. Many states from coast to coast are seeing unemployment soar-California, Alaska, Michigan, Rhode Island, and Mississippi all have unemployment rates above 6%. Other states are close behind. The average time it takes an out-of-work American to find a new job is longer than at any time in the past 30 years when Congress first acted to extend unemployment benefits.

Helping unemployed workers should be a bipartisan issue, as has it has been in the past. Last week, California Governor Schwarzenegger urged Congress to grant extended unemployment benefits to out-of-work Americans. A number of my colleagues here in the Senate across the aisle agree that we must act now as well.

We must act together and without delay. Long-term unemployed workers and their families can't afford to wait for help any longer. They have bills to pay and needs to meet, now. Without immediate help, millions of Americans will fall into poverty and may never recover.

We also need to increase other kinds of immediate aid, such as food stamps, to help low-income families keep up with the rising price of groceries. Food prices are climbing the fastest in 17 years, and food stamps obviously aren't enough to last a month. We need to improve these benefits, so families don't go hungry.

Increasing food stamps is also highly cost-effective-it provides an estimated $1.73 in stimulus for every dollar spent. Even former Reagan economic advisor Martin Feldstein agrees we should temporarily increase food stamp benefits.

Families are turning to state programs for help, and there too we have to shore up the safety net, because the economic crisis is also taking a heavy toll on state budgets. States have to balance their budgets, so they have only two alternatives-raise their taxes on families already hard-pressed to make ends meet, or cut back on other critical services, which will hurt those families just as much or even more. We're already seeing states like Virginia close unemployment offices that are a vital lifeline for the victims of this recession.

We should grant emergency federal aid to the states now, just as we have in past recessions, so that Medicaid and other needed services will be there for those who desperately need them. The last thing we should be doing is cutting back on these vital services in such hard times.

It's also essential to make key investments in the nation's future. By funding infrastructure projects that are ready to begin today-such as school, road, and bridge repairs-we'll be creating thousands of new jobs and delivering a $1.59 boost to the economy for every dollar we spend.

Investments in training programs will help the unemployed gain the skills required for the jobs our economy needs. Yet the Bush Administration has been reducing job training funds for years. In Massachusetts, we now have 21 workers on the waiting list for every available job training slot-21 workers. That's unacceptable.

One urgent step that we must take is to ensure that the slumping economy does not prevent young people from going to college. Right now, in May, students and their parents are applying for the financial aid and the loans they need to attend college in the fall. This is happening just as some banks have said they are no longer offering student loans.

We cannot allow the slumping economy to limit the horizons of a new generation of Americans. Students and parents need to know that we will do everything we can to guarantee that every single student who needs a loan to go to college in the fall will get one, even in these troubled economic times. And we will increase the amount of grant aid available to relieve the debt burden of needy students.

Just yesterday, the Senate passed legislation to do just that. The House of Representatives also passed it just a few hours ago. And President Bush has indicated that he will sign it into law.

This is what this emergency legislation does.

For students, if private loans through the banks dry up, then you can get more lower-cost, government-guaranteed loans to take their place. So no matter what happens in the private loan market, government loans will be there for you.

This guarantee comes in two ways.

First, the bill expands the amount of federal loans available per student for four years of college from $23,000 to $31,000, an $8,000 increase.

Second, it ensures that students will have easy access to federal loans. If banks are not willing to make these loans to students, state-based nonprofit agencies called "Guaranty Agencies" will take their place. So for every student, there will always be someone to provide loans either through the private sector or through the government.

Also for thousands of students, we increase grant aid by up to $1300 a year for under classmen and $4000 a year for upper classmen. That's not a lot, but it's part of our ongoing commitment to help low-income college students avoid the crushing burdens of debt that inevitably distorts their career choice for the future.

The bill also helps parents by providing them with better options for accessing low-cost federal "PLUS" loans as an alternative to private loans or taking money out of their homes. Specifically, it allows parents to delay repayment on these loans until their students have graduated from college. That is a huge help for parents - particularly now, as many are struggling to pay the mortgage and feed their families. The bill also provides help for parents hit by the mortgage crisis by making it easier for them to obtain these loans, even if they are delinquent on their mortgage payments.

Finally, the bill helps stabilize the overall student loan market by authorizing the Secretary of Education to purchase outstanding federal loans, allowing private lenders to replenish their capital so they can make new loans to students and parents.

For the six million students and over 700,000 parents currently relying on low cost federally subsidized loans, these steps mean that they will continue to have ready access to these funds - even as the credit markets discourage lender participation in the federal program. In other words, students and parents will now have multiple avenues to obtain low cost federal loans.

Fortunately, Congress has taken prompt action to prevent college students from becoming the next victims of our failing economy and I commend President Bush for urging us to do so. I'm grateful to Senator Enzi, Congressmen Miller and Congressman McKeon for their partnership on this legislation, and for the support and assistance of the Secretary of Education. I hope we can replicate this bipartisan effort in tackling other urgent economic issues.

There is much more work to be done to ensure that Main Street is insulated from the problems of Wall Street.

Mr. President, it's clear that the nation faces a serious ongoing economic challenge. We know what we have to do to put our economy and our country back on track. But to do that, we need to seize the moment, and act immediately to help the millions of Americans who need our help most.

Source : tradingmarkets.com