U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Calls For Immediate End Of Extra $300 Unemployment Benefits
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is calling on Washington to immediately stop paying an extra $300 in unemployment benefits to people who are out of work after last week's tepid jobs report.
Businesses are reporting difficulties in hiring new employees and bringing back former workers as states expanding reopening. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the extra boost in government aid is giving some people less incentive to look for work.
"The disappointing jobs report makes it clear that paying people not to work is dampening what should be a stronger jobs market," Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief police officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement.
The group claims that about one in four recipients are taking home more in unemployment pay than what they earned when they were unemployed.
We're literally watching the largest labor movement in modern American history happen in the form of paper signs taped to the windows of fast-food and fast-casual restaurants! pic.twitter.com/yg393GZG0P
— Devita Davison (@DevitaDavison) May 9, 2021
Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen says there were many nuanced reasons for the less-than-stellar jobs report, including the fact that many schools remain on hybrid schedules, keeping many women at home and unable to take on full-time work. At last week's White House briefing, Yellen pointed out that 4.2 million women dropped out of the labor force between February and April of 2020, and nearly 2 million have not yet returned.
"Our policymaking has not accounted for the fact that people's work lives and their personal lives are inextricably linked, and if one suffers, so does the other. The pandemic has made this very clear," Yellen said.
The $300 extra unemployment benefit was extended through Sept. 4, 2021, however, some states like Montana and South Carolina have opted out of including the federal bonus.