News In Brief

House-Senate panel OKs extension of jobless aid

House and Senate negotiators tentatively agreed Tuesday on an 18-month extension of a special federal aid program that provides benefits for the long-term unemployed, sources said. The program was due to expire at midnight Tuesday. The compromise on the Federal Supplemental Compensation program would provide 8 to 14 weeks of benefits to those unemployed workers who have exhausted their regular 26 weeks of state-funded unemployment benefits and, in some cases, 13 weeks of extended benefits jointly funded by states and the federal government.