WASHINGTON (AP) -- As Congress hammers out a deal on extending the Bush-era tax cuts, it's also moving to keep benefits flowing to the unemployed.

Both Democrats and Republicans appear to be uniting behind a plan to continue jobless benefits for millions of Americans whose checks have either run out or soon will.

Friday's jump in the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent has put pressure on Republicans to agree to the president's demand that Congress extend unemployment insurance for another year.

The GOP point man in the talks with the White House, Senator Jon Kyl, now appears to link the unemployment benefits with the tax cut extension. He tells CBS that the recipe would likely include an extension of unemployment benefits and an extension of tax cuts for all Americans for some period of time.

(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)