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U.S. Economy Adds 916,000 Jobs In March; Largest Gain Since August
LARKSPUR, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 02: A customer walks by a now hiring sign at a BevMo store on April 02, 2021 in Larkspur, California. According to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy added 916,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate dropped to 6 percent. Leisure and hospitality jobs led the way with 280,000 new jobs followed by restaurants with 176,000 jobs and construction with 110,000 new positions.
As the economy gets better in the United States, Montana, South Carolina, and Arkansas will no longer pay the extra $300 a week in unemployment benefits. Montana Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte declared last week that unemployed people would no longer collect the additional $300 beginning June 27, claiming that it is doing more damage than good.
More states are canceling unemployment benefits
Employers across the country are urgently looking to recruit workers as the economy recovers 14 months after hundreds of thousands of people lost their employment when the pandemic started. Employers added 266,000 jobs nationwide on Friday, slightly less than predicted.
Companies said they could not find workers to fill the opportunities they had to keep up with the steadily improving economic recovery. According to Newsweek via MSN, more states are making it more difficult for individuals to be unemployed to enable them to return to work.
Many people blame the pandemic's simple incentives, including a $300 weekly additional federal payout on top of state benefits. People make more money living at home than going back to work, according to the argument.
Several states have started encouraging recipients of unemployment benefits to demonstrate that they are voluntarily looking for jobs, and a handful has decided to avoid supplying federal aid. It is not just the hospitality industry that is having trouble filling positions.
To meet the demand for the holiday season, Alene Candles, headquartered in Milford, New Hampshire, is looking to fill 1,500 vacancies at its Milford and New Albany facilities. This month, company executives will attend a variety of simulated career fairs.
Republicans have suggested that supplemental federal unemployment benefits are a disincentive to return to work and could stifle economic growth since the Cares Act was enacted in 2020. Like many other Republicans, Senator Lindsey Graham warned last year that the additional funds could hinder companies' willingness to recruit, stifling the recovery. "It's going to be difficult to get you back to work for a $17/hour job if you're paying $23 an hour on unemployment," Graham stated, as per Forbes.
Biden to cut down unemployment benefits, to reinstate the job-seeking policy
In a speech on Monday, President Joe Biden said that Americans receiving unemployment benefits must either take a good job or forfeit their benefits. He urged states to reinstate a pre-pandemic program of forcing individuals to look for jobs. "Anyone receiving unemployment insurance who is given a good position must take the job or risk their unemployment benefits," Biden said at the White House, Business Insider reported.
The Department of Labor would reaffirm long-standing unemployment benefits policies, according to a White House fact sheet issued after the speech, to ensure that governments, employees, and businesses recognize the laws. The Department of Labor will also send states a letter reiterating that workers on welfare cannot refuse a good position to save their benefits.
According to experts, these job-seeking policies existed before the pandemic, but states repealed them last year when the economy collapsed, increasing unemployment. Although the economy is improving, economists say issues such as shortage of childcare and school closures are forcing some people out of work.
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