Richard Mattos, 59, looks for jobs at a state-run employment center in Salem, Ore., on Thursday. Mattos is one of more than 1 million Americans who will lose federal unemployment benefits on Saturday. Jonathan J. Cooper/AP

More than 1 million Americans lost extended federal unemployment benefits this weekend, prompting the Obama administration to urge U.S. lawmakers to restore the benefits as soon as they return from their holiday break, and causing people who rely on the benefits across the country to worry about their next steps.

"It's very stressful," David Davis, an unemployed Virginia resident told The New York Times. "At least I've had the ability to maneuver my finances so I don't wind up homeless. That's one goal, to avoid living on the street or in my car."

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi lambasted the move in a statement Saturday, saying many families would start the new year with uncertainty, insecurity and instability.

"Neglecting to extend this vital lifeline to millions of workers is simply immoral – an abdication of our obligation to do what we can to support those who worked hard, played by the rules, and lost their jobs through no fault of their own," she stated.

"Never before have we abruptly cut off emergency unemployment insurance when we faced this level of long-term unemployment and it would be a blow to these families and our economy," Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council, said in a release.

He added that the president and democratic congressional leadership were pressing to return to the issue once Congress reconvenes.

U.S. lawmakers do not return from the Christmas and New Year break until Jan. 3. An estimated 1.3 million people will be cut off when the federally funded unemployment payments end Saturday.

For families dependent on cash assistance, the end of the federal government's "emergency unemployment compensation" will mean enrollees lose their average monthly stipend of $1,166.

Some states will be especially hard-hit. More than 90,000 people in New Jersey will lose their benefits, proportionally more than any other state.

For 49-year-old Adaline Irizarry, who lost her job as a secretary, the end of benefits means the end of the majority of her income.

"That's my source of income right now," Irizarry told The Star-Ledger. "If I don't get an extension, I'm screwed. I think a lot of people are in that situation."

Advocates of extended benefits say communities hardest hit by the recession will feel the sudden loss of cash in circulation the most.

They cite a set of their own troublesome figures: three jobseekers still competing for each opening; some 4 million people in the ranks of long-term unemployed; unemployment lasting on average 37 weeks, two months longer than most states provide insurance.