Oregon Public Broadcasting

The federal and state governments have extended unemployment benefit payments over the last two years. That has allowed people to stay in their homes and pay their bills. But those extended benefits will start to expire in April.Between the state and the federal government, it’s possible to have received unemployment benefits for 99 weeks during this downturn. That's almost two years. But as the economy appears to be improving, those extended payments are expiring.  Craig Spivey, with the Oregon Employment Department, said the last  benefit, the so called 'Oregon Emergency Benefit,' started a couple of weeks ago and is expected to run out of money next month."By the end of April, close to 10,000 to 12,000 people will come off their unemployment rolls. And then it'll be probably 800 to 1000 a week after that," he said.

 That will help the state save money. Oregon has been paying-out about $63 million a week in benefits. But for the long-term unemployed, like Susan Morton, things are going to get tougher. "I've been filling out applications everyday. Two or three sometimes. I get interviews, I don't know why I don't get the jobs," she said.Morton worked for a phone company for 26 years and then became an administrative assistant for a Portland kitchen remodeling company. But she was laid off from that job two years ago.  "I could see the writing on the wall because they weren't getting the cabinet orders they were getting. They were shipping them back East, Canada, down to California. And they weren't getting the orders like they were ... And when he told me, I knew it was coming," she said.

She's been getting $300 a week in unemployment benefits, but that's about to stop. "We haven't been spending. We don't go to movies, we don't go out to dinner, we don't do any of that. So, I think we'll make it. We've already pretty much geared for it," she said.

Morton doesn't know exactly when her benefits will expire, but she knows it's soon. She counts herself as lucky because her husband is retired and she also has a little retirement money. But they're bringing up their 11-year-old grandson so there may be some sacrifices.Oregon's unemployment rate has dropped to about 10.5 percent over the last few months, but it is still one of the highest in the nation.