Adam Hersh: Weak report underscores need to extend jobless benefits

  Though recent economic data have signaled a strengthening U.S. economy through the end of 2013, new data released this week from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the economic recovery has yet to turn the corner. U.S. employers added a mere 74,000 jobs in December, slowing sharply from previous months. Waning job growth did not appear to be the result of inclement weather, as seasonal hiring maintained patterns similar to previous years.

  With job growth still so tepid and volatile, Congress must waste no more time in extending emergency unemployment insurance to the 1.3 million workers heartlessly and thoughtlessly kicked to the curb when this program expired on Dec. 28. Some 72,000 unemployed workers are expected to lose benefits each week of 2014 that Congress does not act.