As the economy worsens, more current and aspiring middle-class Americans have been thrown out of work. The unemployment rate has risen steadily throughout 2008, reaching 6.1% in August, and 9.4 million Americans are currently without a job. Unemployment insurance helps middle-class families endangered by job loss to make ends meets and can jumpstart a slumping economy by targeting funds to the households most likely to spend them. The Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008 provides an additional 7 weeks of unemployment insurance to out-of-work Americans and permits a further 13 weeks of unemployment benefits in states in which the unemployment rate is particularly high.