The $24 billion bill, passed 98-0, also provides tax relief for struggling businesses. It comes to the rescue of more than one million out-of-work people who will run out of benefits by the end of the year. Everyone will receive 14 weeks of additional benefits. Those in states with unemployment rates of 8.5 percent and above - including Pennsylvania and New Jersey - get six weeks on top of that.

With enactment, the jobless in the hardest-hit states could receive up to 99 weeks of benefits, which average about $300 a week.

The $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, enacted as part of the stimulus package last February and set to expire this month, would be extended and expanded to include a $6,500 credit for people who have lived in their current residences at least five years.

Congress has no choice but to act when there are 15 million jobless chasing three million jobs and when 7,000 people run out of benefits every day, said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.). Economists talk about the end of the recession, he said, but "for most Americans, it will still be some time before things start getting better."

The legislation now goes to the House, which is expected to quickly send it to President Obama for his signature.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D., Md.) said yesterday that the bill was "vital to Americans who have lost their jobs as a result of the deepest recession in over three-quarters of a century." He planned to bring it to the floor for a vote as early as today.

The current jobless rate is 9.8 percent and is expected to move into double digits before companies start rehiring, despite a recent improvement in the gross domestic product. The benefit extension would be the fourth since June of last year and the first since passage of the $787 billion stimulus package in February.

The legislation would extend the $8,000 tax credit for home buyers through June of next year as long as the buyer enters into a binding contract before April 30. It doubles the income ceiling for qualification to $125,000 for individuals. The credit is available for homes bought at under $800,000.

The measure also strengthens the ability of the IRS to stop people who are not eligible for the program from filing fraudulent claims.

The new $6,500 credit for current homeowners, said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R., Ga.), a cosponsor of the measure, "is going to help us boost what is the problem in the U.S. housing market today, and that is what is called the move-up market."

The third leg of the bill extends to all businesses that have incurred losses in 2008 and 2009 the ability to seek refunds for taxes paid on profits over the last five years.