Federal government to provide $3B in housing aid

The Obama administration is providing $3 billion to unemployed homeowners facing foreclosure in the nation's toughest job markets.

The Treasury Department says it will send $2 billion to 17 states that have unemployment rates higher than the national average for a year. They will use the money for programs to aid unemployed homeowners. Some of those states already have designed such programs.

Another $1 billion will go to a new program being run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide homeowners with emergency zero-interest-rate loans of up to $50,000 for up to two years.