93,000 Californians Set To Lose Unemployment Benefits

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - For those who have been unemployed long-term, it's not good news. The length of time you can receive unemployment benefits just got shorter.

Soon the unemployed, like the anonymous man we'll call John, will see unemployment benefits cut off more than four months earlier. The reason, California's economy is improving, and unemployment is slowly dropping.

"It had to be 10 percent higher then when we were three years ago, and with California's improving economy, that no longer is the case," said Loree Levy of the California Employment Development Department.

But at the same time, it's leaving many with no income. Our unemployment rate sits at 11 percent. With two million people still unemployed, nearly half have been jobless for more than six months.

Still, it's good enough for the federal government to reduce the unemployment benefit time. So as of May 12, the 93,000 people receiving benefits now will cease to receive them.

"You're punishing people just because that number went down. What about all the people that are still unemployed," said John.

For those like John, it's terrible news. Unemployed for a year, he was banking on the extended benefits.

"To give me a little more time, and once I got into school, if it'd give me two of three more months," said John.

Instead, he, like so many, will continue to look, hoping something comes up before the benefits end.

"There's still people's unemployed. So we can't stop helping those peoples," said John.