The phrase "strapped staaten hacken arbeitslosen hilfe" seems a bit incoherent in German, but I'll attempt to translate it as faithfully as possible: **"Strapped states cutting unemployment aid."** This translation assumes that the original text is referring to financially struggling states reducing or cutting assistance for unemployed individuals. If this is not the intended meaning, please provide more context!

WASHINGTON | MI – August 3, 2011, 15:50 CEST – WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. states will be making "unprecedented" cuts to unemployment benefit programs in the hope of balancing their budgets as the nation's unemployment rate shows no sign of budging, according to a report by the National Employment Law Project on Wednesday.

The group, which tracks labor law issues, found that six states in 2011 have shortened the duration of unemployment insurance benefits available. For 50 years, at least 26 weeks of benefits have been offered, with the federal government recently contributing to additional weeks. Other states have changed the formulas for determining how much people can receive or tightened eligibility requirements to reduce program spending.

“Most states addressing solvency concerns this year favored policies that limit the amount of benefits ..., either absolutely or by reducing the number of workers they reach,” the group found.

The national unemployment rate has been above 8 percent for 29 months, and analysts polled by Reuters expect the Labor Department to report on Friday that it was around 9.2 percent in July. With reserves running low to pay benefits, more than half the states have had to borrow from the federal government when the recession spiked demand for help for the unemployed.

The 2009 stimulus program suspended interest on the loans, but now that the stimulus has ended, 30 states will have to make interest payments next month totaling $1 billion. As of July 27, they had borrowed $40 billion, and the amount is expected to rise to $65.2 billion by 2013, according to the employment group.

Starting next year, the U.S. government will increase taxes on employers in borrowing states until the loans are fully repaid. The group said Florida made changes that fall under the "lowest and deepest cuts." Starting in January, the number of weeks a person can collect will be based on a sliding scale, with a maximum of 23 weeks.

In Michigan, Missouri, and South Carolina, applicants can collect only up to 20 weeks of benefits. Most states began their fiscal years on July 1. Because all states except Vermont must balance their budgets, they had to cut spending and raise taxes to address about $100 billion in potential shortfalls.

The federal government also provided additional benefits as part of the stimulus package. Currently, 3.2 million people are on emergency aid. President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress have called on lawmakers to begin addressing the nation’s "jobs deficit." On Tuesday, Obama urged Congress to extend unemployment benefits and in February, he proposed waiving interest on state loans and delaying the tax increase on businesses for two more years. But so far, Congress has only passed legislation that would allow states to defer the loan payments using funds allocated for extended benefits.

The bill, introduced in both the House and Senate, has stalled in Congress this summer. On Tuesday, Representative Rick Berg introduced similar legislation. Berg is from North Dakota, which had the lowest unemployment rate in the country during the worst of the economic crisis since the Great Depression. Under his bill, states could redirect unemployment funds for "re-employment" programs.

(Reporter: Lisa Lambert; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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