2,400 millionaires claim unemployment benefits from federal government ..

As America suffers the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, it is not surprising to learn that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits has increased dramatically.

But what is a surprise is the number of benefit recipients who live in very wealthy households - nearly 2,400 claimants in 2009 came from households earning $1million or more.

And it is not just the super-rich who are receiving federal unemployment cheques, but the comfortably well-off too - close to 1million households with earnings of at least $100,000 claimed the benefit.

Perhaps the most egregious example of the super-rich taking benefits intended for the poor is the fact that 18 households earning $10million or more had someone claiming unemployment insurance.

'Sending millionaires unemployment checks is a case study in out-of-control spending,' Oklahoma senator Tom Coburn told Bloomberg.

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