Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty
The Republican narrative that enhanced unemployment benefits are dissuading people from returning to work—and that cutting off the aid is necessary to boost hiring—is running up against reality in the GOP-led state of Missouri, where officials have yet to see any significant increase in job applicants since the governor cut off pandemic-related federal programs last month.
“There may be areas where some employers are struggling to staff positions, but the likely obstacle is not overly generous UI benefits—instead it is wage offerings that are too low to make these jobs attractive.”
—David Cooper, Economic Policy Institute
The New York Times reported Sunday that Missouri workforce development personnel “said they had seen virtually no uptick in applicants since the governor’s announcement, which ended a $300 weekly supplement to other benefits.”
“And the online job site Indeed found that in states that have abandoned the federal benefits, clicks on job postings were below the national average,” the Times noted.
On May 11, Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Parson announced that the state […]
In his announcement last month, Parson cited “conversations with business owners across the state” to prop up his claim that companies are struggling to hire workers “because of labor shortages resulting from these excessive federal unemployment programs.”
Instead of relying on conversations with other Republican business owners, to make his decisions regarding the unemployed and poverty stricken, maybe Governor Parsons should go for a much more experiential position – and actually physically try to live on those exact government unemployment subsidies, for at least ,,, oh I don’t know -30 days?