The Senate is expected propose amendments to a House-passed tax extenders measure after returning from a weeklong break. 

The Senate returns Monday afternoon, but leadership hasn't decided when consideration will begin on the two-pronged extenders measure, which includes an extension of unemployment benefits and a fix for Medicare payments to doctors, according to a Democratic aide. 

The fate of the measure is uncertain. At this point, the Senate probably doesn't have enough votes to pass the measure, and it's unknown how the House would react to changes. 

House Democrats bailed from support of the bill – 34 on the unpaid for unemployment benefits and 15 from the Medicare "doc fix."

The federal homebuyer tax credit, which has been credited by some with helping the real estate market rebound from a historic downturn, is still available for military personnel.

The credit provides an $8,000 tax break for first-time homebuyers and $6,500 in relief for repeat home purchasers for qualifying service members who purchase a home on or before April 30, 2011.

These credits expired in April for civilians.

Military personnel serving outside the United States for at least 90 days during the period beginning Dec. 31, 2008, and ending May 1, 2010, still qualify for the credit.

The 36-month recapture requirement is waived for service workers who took advantage of the credit but have been forced to sell their home as a result of serving their country.

BP's top officials vowed Friday to meet all costs of the Gulf oil spill, which have exceeded $1 billion, while assuring shareholders that the company will bounce back and continue to grow. 

So far, BP has spent more than $1 billion on all costs related to the oil spill, and spending at that rate is expected to continue for some time "beyond successful completion of work to stop the flow of oil from the damaged well," BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg told shareholders Friday. Any fines and penalties will add to the costs. 

The costs of containment, removal and clean-up are likely to be largely completed in 2010 but the longer-term costs of environmental mediation, claims and litigation are not unpredictable, and are expected to be sizeable and spread over many years, Svanberg and CEO Tony Hayward outlined on Friday. 

The White House sent BP a bill for $69 million on Thursday. 

BP is creating a stand-alone organization run by Managing Director Bob Dudley, to oversee the long-term response once the spill is over. 

"This step will ensure that we maintain focus on both the massive response effort and our duties towards our ongoing businesses," Hayward said. "I remain personally committed to making this right."

Alan Krueger, the Treasury's Chief Economist and Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, on Friday told reporters recent indicators suggest the economy is moving as the Obama administration expected. 

"The improvement we have seen in the economy is on track with the administration's outlook for the year," he said. 

Krueger's comments came on the heels of news that the economy added 431,000 jobs in May, but nearly all of them were temporary workers hired by the Census Bureau. The private sector added 41,000 workers, according to the Labor Department.

Krueger admitted that the gain in permanent jobs was smaller than expected and said job growth would not be consistent given the severity of the recent recession. 

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee on family issues, will hold a hearing June 10 on possible policy responses to long-term unemployment.

While the economy is showing signs of improvement, nearly 46 percent of all unemployed workers have been without a job for over six months, a record high since the statistic was created in 1948.

McDermott claims over 10 million jobs need to be created to restore the labor market to pre-recession levels and stresses that extensions to unemployment insurance need to continue until the job scene is greatly improved.

The growth of the job market is still going to take some time despite signs of a steadily growing economy, a top administration official said Thursday. 

"The economy has been growing now for four quarters, and you've seen in the last five to six months a pretty steady gradual increase in the amount of jobs the private sector is creating and all the indicators suggest that its getting stronger," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday in a CNBC interview. 

"Now, it's not going to be even, it's not going to be steady, it's still going to take awhile."

Jobs numbers for May will be out Friday morning and are expected to reflect a more than 500,000 job gain, although many of those jobs are tied to temporary hiring for the Census. 

An increase in consumer confidence should continue to bolster the strength of the private sector and private demand and investment, he said. 

"You're seeing that starting to translate into longer hours worked, more jobs created and, therefore, stronger income growth for the average American," Geithner said. 

On the eve of the release of May employment figures, nearly 30 percent of all U.S. workers are reporting that their companies were hiring last month. 

U.S. employment hit the highest level in 19 months, with 28 percent of employees reporting their companies are hiring, up 5 percentage points since January. Meanwhile, 21 percent said their firms were letting people go, down three percentage points, according to Gallup's Job Creation Index, released this week. 

Friday's jobs report could reflect an increase of more than 500,000 jobs in May. 

The poll also shows positive trends in all regions of the country, with the South reporting the strongest conditions — hiring reached 31 percent, up 10 percentage points, and firing hit 21 percent. The South benefits from the energy industry but that situation could change based on the economic effects of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 

President Barack Obama on Thursday issued a $69 million bill to oil giant BP for response and recovery operations related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 

The president will continue to bill the company to ensure that the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is fully reimbursed.