Wednesday Feb. 23, the Senate approved a bill that is focused on getting unemployed Americans back to work. The bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 70-28. The bill now moves on to the House and is expected to be passed shortly.

    This bill allows for tax credits and exemptions for businesses who hire unemployed workers. Under this bill, businesses hiring the unemployed will be exempt from the 6.2% Social Security payroll tax through December, and it also gives them an additional $1000 credit if those new workers stay on for a full year.

    The new hiring tax credit could spur about 250,000 new jobs, according to economist Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com. The economy has shed 8.4 million jobs since the recession began in December, 2007.