Though slight changes have indicated that the economy is slowly picking up, 179 La Plata County residents lost unemployment benefits in late December with the passage of a new federal budget.

Cher Haavind, a spokeswoman with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, said 121 people in the county lost their long-term federal unemployment benefits at the end of the year. Additionally, 58 people who had the regular state unemployment benefits no longer are eligible for the federal extension.

Colorado residents who have become unemployed by no fault of their own now are eligible to receive 26 weeks of unemployment, paid for by a state employer trust fund. Before an extension of expiring jobless benefits, eligible candidates were able to receive up to 54 weeks of federal unemployment, Haavind said.

In 2008, the federal government extended benefits because of the effects of the recession. At the peak of unemployment, the federal government extended benefits to unemployed Coloradans for up to 99 weeks, she said.

Once the 26 weeks of unemployment benefits are exhausted, a person no longer is able to transition into the extended federal benefits because the state’s unemployment rate dropped, she said.

About 1,483 people are unemployed in La Plata County as reported by the Colorado Department of Labor for November 2013. It was a tiny improvement from October 2013, which showed 1,491 unemployed in the county.

Though Congress currently is working on a bill that would readjust federally funded unemployment benefits, it is unlikely the bill would allow for a long-term extension because of the slow, but evident, economic recovery.

The latest calculated unemployment rate for the U.S. is 7 percent. The state of Colorado is at 6.5 percent and the county at 4.8 percent.

Montezuma County was similarly affected after the new federal budget passed. About 100 people there lost their long-term unemployment benefits Dec. 28.

The November unemployment rate for Montezuma County is 7.1 percent.

Haavind provided some advice for residents who recently have become unemployed and no longer can receive extended aid.

“They certainly should visit their local workforce center. The local workforce center can provide them with intensive job-search assistance and other resources like résumé review and interviewing skills,” she said.

vguthrie@durangoherald.com. The Cortez Journal contributed to this report.