The head of the state Department of Labor on Thursday pushed for an extension of federal unemployment benefits that could inject $900 million into the state's economy.

M. Patricia Smith, the labor department's commissioner, told a U.S. Senate committee that she supported a Senate bill that would extend unemployment benefits an extra 20 weeks. Currently, unemployed people can get insurance benefits for a maximum of 26 weeks after they lose their jobs.

Smith also said the nation needs reforms to unemployment insurance. She said New York has seen a 10 percent increase in the number of new people claiming unemployment insurance benefits in the past year. Last year, more than 35 percent of laid-off workers nationwide exhausted their benefits.

"An extension of benefits will put high-velocity dollars into the hands of families that will spend them quickly, providing an immediate boost to consumer spending," Smith said in her testimony to the Senate's health, education, labor and pensions committee.

"Money invested in extended benefits flows immediately to local businesses, which in turn provides a further economic boost," she added.

Smith also said the nation needs to reinvest in employment training so unemployed workers can gain the necessary skills to compete for future jobs.

She said that the downturn in the economy has turned unemployment benefits, designed to be "a temporary support system during a brief disruption between similar jobs, into a financial bridge for workers facing a dramatic break from one industry or career - often blue-collar - to an entirely new industry or career."

The current system, she added, "is woefully inadequate to provide that financial bridge, when so many workers need income and retraining assistance for new careers."