Though still high by historical comparison, the downward-trending number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits hit a pandemic low of 385,000 applicants.
What We Know:
- Unemployment aid applications typically reflect the pace of layoffs in the United States, and with an overarching issue of worker shortages, the pace of layoffs is decreasing. With “now hiring” signs covering websites, store windows, and billboards, as well as businesses reopening from pandemic closures, the job market is capable of a steady recovery.
- Vaccinations permit Americans to shop, dine out, and attend entertainment venues. Economist Ann Elizabeth Konkel states, “Reviving a labor market after a deadly pandemic is complicated,” she said. “Not all indicators move at the same speed or take the same recovery path. Hopefully, the COVID-19 cases continue to decline as the number of fully vaccinated individuals rises. Fully returning to pre-COVID normal is essential to a full labor market recovery.”
- Companies resuming business struggle to find employees to meet rising demand. In response, 25 states revoked COVID-induced unemployment benefits early. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan implemented in Feb. 2021 funds $300 weekly benefits through Sept. 6. Yet, the 25 states opting to end emergency federal aid early aim to cease these weekly unemployment benefits in mid-June. With deficit spending at its highest level since World War II, critics argue that inflation may result, along with insufficient long-term funds for infrastructure and other improvement measures.
- Aid-revoking states claim the federal unemployment benefits provided by the American Rescue Plan discourage jobless people from seeking work, despite economists also pointing to lack of childcare and COVID health concerns as other possible culprits for worker shortages.
- Since December, the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits declined from 20 million to 15.4 million. These quantities include Americans receiving pandemic-specific aid, including those receiving American Rescue Plan benefits.
The controversy between states and their differing approaches to ending COVID protocols applies directly to employment or lack thereof.
