Senate conservatives shoot down an extension of unemployment benefits: The measure would have extended the emergency benefits program for six months, providing 13 weeks of extra unemployment benefits to people who exhaust their state benefits -- usually after 26 weeks. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent last month from a high of 6.4 percent last summer, but the economy still is not producing many new jobs. In fact, more than 2,400 U.S. employers reported laying off 50 or more workers in January, according to the Labor Department. It was the third-highest level since the government started tracking mass layoffs a decade ago. Democrats are seizing on the troubled job market to boost their election prospects in November. Some Republicans think that they might be vulnerable. Those concerns led 39 Republicans to break rank last month to support a benefits extension in the House. The Republican Party: Tanking the economy and cutting benefits for the victims.