Bush signed an extension of jobless benefits into law as he was preparing to leave the White House for a flight to Lima, Peru, to attend the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The legislation provides seven additional weeks of payments to people who have exhausted their benefits. Those in states where the unemployment rate is above 6 percent, such as New Jersey, would be entitled to an additional 13 weeks.

Normally, unemployment insurance runs for 26 weeks, but Congress in June extended that to 39 weeks. The latest extension adds to the 39 weeks. Benefit checks average about $300 a week nationwide.

Congressional leadership rushed the jobs measure to the White House after it was approved Thursday to make the unusually quick bill-signing possible before Bush left the country.

Also yesterday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. formally approved a plan to guarantee up to $1.4 trillion in U.S. banks' debt for more than three years as part of the government's financial rescue package. The plan is meant to break the crippling logjam in bank-to-bank lending.

The FDIC will provide temporary insurance for loans between banks - except for those for 30 days or less - guaranteeing the new debt in the event of payment default by the borrowing bank.

Loans have become scarce because banks are concerned they won't be repaid.

Well over half of the roughly 8,500 U.S. banks and savings and loans are expected to tap the FDIC's temporary guarantees, which are in addition to the government's $250 billion program of directly buying shares in banks and financial companies.

The jobless insurance extension was opposed by Bush earlier this year but he came to support the legislation as unemployment rose. The latest figures showed new claims for aid at 542,000, a 16-year high.

The House approved the extension in October, and the Senate passed it Thursday.

About 1.2 million people would have exhausted their unemployment insurance by the end of the year without the extension, sponsors said.

The measure is estimated to cost about $5.7 billion, although economists put the positive impact at $1.64 for every dollar spent on jobless benefits because the money helps sustain other jobs and restores consumer confidence.

Unemployment insurance is a joint program between states and the federal government that is almost completely funded by employer taxes, either state or federal. Congress has enacted federally funded extensions seven times in the last 50 years during economic slumps - in 1958, 1961, 1972, 1975, 1982, 1991 and 2002.