The Daily Ticker has the story Extending jobless benefits is the right thing to do says Brookings analyst.

Melissa Kearney, who co-wrote a recent Brookings report “The Importance of Unemployment Insurance for American Families and the Economy: Take 2,” says extending emergency jobless benefits is the right thing to do in an economy where there are three unemployed workers for every job opening.

This is a case of using the right statistic in the right place. You can’t just go by the raw unemployment rate figure, which ought to be enough justification by itself. At the same rate of unemployment, if the number of job openings were significantly higher compared to the number of job seekers, then extending unemployment benefits might not be as wise.