The Senate vote came one day after new figures showed the official unemployment rate has jumped to 9.8 percent, the fifth highest it has been since the economic crisis began. Some two million people are poised to lose unemployment benefits this month, with more to come in the following months. Hours after the Senate vote, President Obama criticized Republicans for insisting on a tax cut for the most wealthy.

President Obama: “I am very disappointed that the Senate did not pass legislation that had already passed the House of Representatives to make middle-class tax cuts permanent. Those provisions should have passed. Now, I continue to believe that it makes no sense to hold tax cuts for the middle class hostage to permanent tax cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans.”