Nearly 18,000 out-of-work Coloradans will lose their unemployment benefits three days after Christmas if Congress doesn’t extend funding for emergency benefits into 2014.

But an estimated 72,800 Coloradans in total would lose unemployment benefits throughout 2014 if federal funding for the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program isn’t continued.

Those numbers, from the U.S. Department of Labor, are part of a stark picture that would be painted nationally if the emergency benefits aren’t continued. Nearly 5 million Americans would lose these extended unemployment benefits, the only source of income for many families still trying to recover after the Great Recession.

These federally funded emergency unemployment benefits go to the long-term unemployed, those who have already exhausted the regular 26 weeks of state-funded unemployment. Such emergency benefits have been an important bridge for the unemployed in every major recession since the late 1950s, and during the Great Recession, more than 356,000 Coloradans relied on these benefits to help get through tough times.

In prior recessions, Congress waited until the job market rebounded and the long-term unemployment rate dropped before allowing the program to phase out. This year, though, despite calls from some key lawmakers to continue the program, Congress failed to include an extension in last week’s budget agreement between House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, D-Wash.

That lack of action means Coloradans currently receiving emergency unemployment benefits will be cut off immediately on Dec. 28. And that’s despite the fact that the long-term unemployment rate is twice as high as when lawmakers allowed emergency benefits to expire in any previous recession.

Colorado’s economy is on the mend, but the situation is still dire for people who have been without a job for an extended period of time. Last month, Colorado’s unemployment rate dipped to 6.8 percent, and after declines in August and September, the state saw an increase of 1,500 jobs. But with an estimated three job seekers for every opening, things are still tough for unemployed workers who have used up their savings and find it harder to find work the longer they’ve been unemployed.

When Congress returns in January, its first priority should be to restart emergency jobless benefits so unemployed workers and their families can have a fighting chance in the new year.