House passes jobless benefits extension

On second try, House extends unemployment benefits beyond the 6-month limit; measure still faces uphill fight to final approval.

A measure to extend unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 39 weeks passed the House on a second try Thursday but the bill still faces numerous hurdles.

The measure fell three votes short of the two-thirds majority vote needed for approval Wednesday but only a simple majority was needed for passage Thursday.

The measure will help many of the country's 1.6 million job seekers who have been out of work more than six months and have therefore seen their unemployment benefits run out.

Les Tarlton is one of them. He's been out of work since the end of 2003, when the suburban Dallas resident was laid-off by Swedish cell phone maker Ericsson.

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