HARRISBURG — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato is defending the use of unemployment compensation to help Pennsylvania's jobless, but he's lukewarm about any extension of federal unemployment benefits.

At a Capitol news conference today, Onorato renewed his criticism of Republican candidate Tom Corbett for suggesting last week that some Pennsylvanians would rather stay home and collect unemployment checks than go back to work.

But Onorato hedged when asked about stalled legislation in Congress to extend emergency federal payments to people whose 26 weeks of state-paid benefits have run out.

After reporters pressed for clarification, Onorato said he would not oppose such an extension. But he stressed that the real issue is creating jobs to replace those that disappeared in recent years.