Will cutting federal unemployment benefits push job growth?
In some states, this is the first week people out of work cant collect the extra $300 in weekly federal unemployment benefits. The benefits expired in Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi and Missouri on Saturday. Theres definitely a worker out there whos like, These benefits are great, my job was terrible, Im going to ride this as far as I can. But theres also definitely a person out there who has filed 500 job applications and cant find a job, said Kathryn Anne Edwards, a labor economist at the Rand Corp. There are also people without child care, those who are unvaccinated because of health conditions and those who cant find jobs that match their skills. Unemployment insurance was designed with that in mind, Edwards said. Getting workers in the right jobs, those that theyll stay in, is better for them and for the economy. And, in most industries, there are still more unemployed people than there are job openings, said David Cooper with the Economic Policy Institute. One exception is leisure and hospitality, where businesses are struggling to hire. But he says thats to be expected in a low-wage industry thats seeing a surge in demand. Even in the best of circumstances, its going to take time for employers to staff up, Cooper said. Expiring unemployment benefits aside, well see job growth as the economy continues to reopen, he said.