INDIANAPOLIS (AP): More than 19,000 Indiana residents are facing new financial challenges now that their federal extended unemployment benefits have come to an end.
 
Long-term jobless benefits expired Saturday for an estimated 1.3 million Americans, including more than 19,000 Hoosiers who will no longer be receiving unemployment checks that average about $1,080 a month in Indiana.
 
While the Obama administration and congressional Democrats want to continue the program, the extensions were dropped from a recent budget deal and Republican lawmakers have balked at its $26 billion annual cost.
 
Indiana Department of Workforce Development spokesman Joe Frank says the state agency added alerts on its website and other correspondence about the approaching end of the long-term jobless benefits.  He says “people have been prepared for this.”