Senator John F. Kerry said Tuesday that he expects the Senate to pass legislation later this week that would extend unemployment benefits for tens of thousands of Massachusetts workers and provide millions of dollars to fund summer jobs programs for local teenagers. 'I'm confident we'll get this done in a few days,' Kerry said in a telephone interview. 'It's critical that we do.' The Senate on Tuesday continued to debate the legislation, which would restore emergency federal benefits that have allowed unemployed workers in Massachusetts and other states to collect for up to 99 weeks. The program expired about two weeks ago. As a result, an estimated 10,000 Massachusetts residents a week are losing their jobless benefits, according to the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. 'We want to get these benefits extended,' Kerry said. 'It's a huge concern.' While the national unemployment rate is still hovering near 10 percent, and nearly 15 million Americans remain out of work, worries about the mounting federal deficit have complicated efforts to extend federal benefits through November. The legislation, which the House passed shortly before Memorial Day, includes other funding aimed at supporting what many economists say is a still fragile recovery. Massachusetts, for example, would receive more than $600 million in funding for Medicaid, the health care program for the poor, to help the state avoid even deeper budget cuts. The bill also includes a fix to a glitch in federal unemployment benefits that penalizes workers who take part-time or temporary jobs; and $20 million to create 8,500 summer jobs for youth in Massachusetts. On Tuesday, about 300 people, mostly youth, rallied outside Boston City Hall, urging the city government and local businesses to provide an additional $2 million in emergency funding for summer jobs programs if Congress fails to act on the legislation. The Youth Jobs Coalition, which organized the rally, estimates that nearly 7,000 summer jobs in Massachusetts, including 1,300 in Boston, would be cut without the federal money. Renee Blake, 18, of Jamaica Plain, a senior at Melrose High School, called summer jobs for teenagers 'a live-or-die situation.' 'If we don't keep ourselves occupied,' she said, 'we have to sit outside and may hang out with the wrong crowd.' The recent recession has hit teenagers particularly hard. In Massachusetts, only 1 in 4 people age 16 to 19 are employed, according to Northeastern University's Center for Labor Market Studies. That's down from about 1 in 2 teens a decade ago. Among the working-age population about 6 in 10 are employed, according to the center. At Tuesday's rally, Boston city councilors urged the crowd to fight for additional city funding for summer jobs. But Mayor Thomas M. Menino's administration noted that the city has maintained funding, some $4.6 million, for teen jobs even as state and federal funding is in jeopardy. The state, for example, has slashed its funding for summer jobs across the state by nearly half, to $6 million, from $12 million, according to George Lee, an organizer for the Youth Jobs Coalition, a statewide group of community and youth organizations. Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley said that summer jobs are not just about pocket money for teenagers, who often play crucial roles in contributing income to their families. Many parents have lost jobs or had hours cut. Teen workers 'are keeping the lights on,' Pressley said. 'They are putting food on the table.' 