I am not sympathetic since my tax dollars are funding these benefits. The shipyard is hiring locally with three thousand jobs to fill. All the casinos are hiring. These are higher paying jobs. I read earlier today that a pizza restaurant in Chicago was forced to take down a sign that indicated he did not have enough staff due to government handouts. Here is the CBS story:

Muhammad Ifzal, 42, lost his job as a medical lab scientist a few months before the pandemic. And when the crisis shuttered the economy, it was difficult to find work because medical procedures slowed down. The Irving, Texas, resident said he's now dealing with another unexpected shock — an early end to enhanced unemployment benefits in his state.

"I was so depressed," Ifzal said, who will lose all his benefits on June 26. That's when Texas is terminating several programs created by Congress to help millions of workers who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. "We didn't expect this kind of news. It was expected to go through September 4."

Texas is one of 25 states — all with Republican governors — that have opted to curtail enhanced unemployment benefits two months early, citing difficulties being reported by some employers in finding workers. Lawmakers who are shutting off benefits early have typically pointed to the hiring needs of newly reopened businesses in hospitality, such as restaurants, that are finding a smaller pool of job candidates.


The states will start to cut off benefits on June 12, with Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi and Missouri curtailing the extra pandemic aid on that date.

Critics of the 25 states that are curtailing jobless aid point to data demonstrating that the labor market is improving. In May, the nation's jobless rate fell to its lowest since the pandemic erupted in March of 2020, declining to 5.8%, the Labor Department said on Friday. Employers added a solid 559,000 jobs last month.

Still, challenges remain. In some cases, restaurant workers have shifted to other industries, but some hospitality industry workers remain sidelined because of child care issues or health concerns. Many other unemployed workers with years of experience in other industries, such as medicine and education, tell CBS MoneyWatch that finding a job isn't as easy as their elected leaders suggest.
4 million Americans to lose benefits
About 1 in 4 U.S. workers now on unemployment will lose their benefits early through the actions of these 25 states, according to Andy Stettner, a labor expert at the left-leaning Century Foundation. That amounts to about 4 million workers facing an end to all or most of their jobless aid starting on June 12.

In Ifzal's case, he will lose all of his unemployment assistance because he's on the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, or PEUC, which was created last year to provide extra weeks of benefits after regular state jobless aid comes to an end. Most states only provide 26 weeks of benefits. Once the PEUC program ends in Texas on June 26, Ifzal won't qualify for additional jobless aid.

Ifzal said it's still hard to find work in his field and that landing a lower-paid job in an industry unrelated to his experience won't help him in the long run. He started a petition to ask Texas Governor Greg Abbott to reconsider his decision to end unemployment benefits, which has received more than 9,000 signatures and comments. Many are from people who can't find jobs in their fields, including the oil and gas industry, which lost more than 100,000 jobs in the pandemic.

"I have worked 11, 12 years in my field and it doesn't make any sense to find a job at McDonald's," Ifzal said.

"88 cents in my bank account"
Some of those who will lose their benefits in a matter of days or weeks told CBS MoneyWatch they want their governors and others to know they aren't lazy. Some have young children that have been in remote school and require supervision, making it harder to take on a job outside the home. Others have health issues. Some are over 60 and said they believed they were having trouble finding work because of an unspoken bias against older job candidates.

Others noted that while restaurants are hiring, other industries remain weakened because of the impact of COVID-19. Jihan Johnston, a single mom in Atlanta, has a masters degree in education, but the pandemic has hit her sector hard. Last year, jobs in public K-12 education fell by 8%. The impact might be even worse than suggested since many schools have held off on hiring new staff amid remote schooling and other changes, the Brookings Institution noted.

"I've applied to over 2,000 jobs in the last year. I haven't heard back from anybody," said Johnston, who has a 12-year-old son. "I had to move out of my house. I'm living with my mother. I have 88 cents in my bank account."

Johnston said she applied for work in the education, technology and customer service fields, but believes her resume may make her overqualified for some jobs. She also worries about the impact of bias, given that she is Black, and the fact that she's been out of work since before the pandemic.

"That is one of my biggest fears, that they will say 'What happened to this gap?'" she said.

Johnston's most immediate concern is the early end of jobless benefits in Georgia on June 27. She had planned on getting two additional months of aid — federal funding for jobless aid programs expires on September 4 — to help her move to California, where she is due to begin a doctoral program in informatics at the University of California, Irvine.

Now Johnston is worried she might not have the money to make the move and is currently looking for summer jobs to find the money. She added that she's looking into whether she can transfer her unemployment benefits to California.

"California is one of those states that hasn't canceled unemployment," she said. Having more weeks of aid "would be a huge relief."

Big hit to local economies
The number of Americans applying for jobless aid has continued to drop, signaling that the job market is recovering as more people are vaccinated against COVID-19 and consumers resume normal activities. About 385,000 people filed for unemployment aid last week, a drop of 20,000 from the previous week and the lowest level since March 14, 2020, the Labor Department said Thursday.

But it was a weaker-than-expected April jobs report that had a domino effect on Republican governors opting to end jobless aid two months early. Montana was the first to announce it was shutting off the spigot to jobless workers, followed by a growing number of other GOP-led states, each providing a 30-day warning about the early end to benefits. Workers in Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi and Missouri will be the first to lose their benefits, starting on June 12.

The April jobs report created a "faux panic" among GOP-run states, according to Stettner, who pointed to the nation's steadily declining unemployment rate as proof that workers are finding jobs. But adults who have been out of work for longer, as well as people of color, may face increased struggles due to these states' premature end to jobless benefits, he said.

Black workers are often "the first fired and last hired," Stettner added. The unemployment rate among Black workers stood at 9.3% in April — almost double the 5.3% rate of Whites.
The 25 states that are turning down federal unemployment aid could end up hindering the recovery in their local economy, according to a recent report from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. Its analysis found that the states may stand to lose $13 billion in economic activity by snubbing the federal funding.

Unemployment aid is typically spent immediately by its recipients on essentials, ranging from rent to groceries. Economists believe this results in a so-called multiplier effect within local economies because it helps support businesses and workers who then have money to spend. Every dollar in unemployment aid may result in $1.70 of economic activity, according to the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

Without the aid, local economies may suffer, while jobless workers say they will face tough choices about which bills to pay.

"I'm absolutely convinced that poverty will go up," Stettner of the Century Foundation said. "We know not everyone will find a job in the 30-day window that they are providing."

The 25 states curtailing benefits for jobless self-employed workers are:

Alabama (ends 6/19)
Alaska (6/12)
Arizona (7/10)
Arkansas (6/26)
Florida (6/26)
Georgia (6/27)
Idaho (6/19)
Indiana (6/19)
Iowa (6/12)
Maryland (7/4)
Mississippi (6/12)
Missouri (6/12)
Montana (6/27)
Nebraska (6/19)
New Hampshire (6/19)
North Dakota (6/19)
Ohio (6/26)
Oklahoma (6/26)
South Carolina (6/30)
South Dakota (6/26)
Tennessee (7/03)
Texas (6/26)
Utah (6/26)
West Virginia (6/19)
Wyoming (6/19)
First published on June 4, 2021 / 7:26 AM

LINK: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u...s-republican-states/

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
...
Many other unemployed workers with years of experience in other industries, such as medicine ..., tell CBS MoneyWatch that finding a job isn't as easy as their elected leaders suggest.
...

Maybe those on SF in the medical field can tell us differently, but my recent experience, here in S.E. Michigan, suggests employment in medical fields should not be problematic.

The offices of the sports medicine doctors I visited appeared to be doing a brisk business. The hospital at which I had my MRI performed, got my pre-surgery Covid-19 clearance test, and had my procedure performed appeared to be doing a brisk business. The physical therapy place where I'm getting post-op PT had me arrange my appointments for the next three weeks to ensure I'd get them, because "the phones are ringing off the hook." (Verbatim, from one of the staff.) My GP's office appeared to be doing its normal level of business.

I can understand the likes of medical professionals and "educators" not wanting to take lawn maintenance and burger-flipping jobs--especially at (much) less than their accustomed pay levels, but this free money "from the government" to sit on your backside has to come to a halt. It's destroying the economy.

“...doesn’t make any sense getting a job at McDonald’s because it won’t help in the long run.”

What? It’s money. Bitch get your ass out there and take a job that’s available! I hate people that think they’re too good for certain jobs. I’ve got a college degree and I’ve done just about everything except fast food/restaurant work. Forklift driver, lawn/landscape, mover, cleanup and repair of college apartments between semesters, flooring/remodel, electrical...hell I even froze my ass off for three days holding a STOP/SLOW sign at one end of a road repair site. Get to work fucker!

While I agree with you in principle, you need to realize that every person who gets their unemployment cut off is a potential new Democratic voter. In states that are hanging red by a thread, this could flip them. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done. But there can be consequences, and we'd have to live with them.

The Democrats are masters of buying votes with taxpayers money.

Muhammad Ifzal,

There are currently many open medical lab technologist positions in the DFW area. Get off you butt and go to work.

Lol.

She has $.88 in her bank account, but plans to move to Irvine, CA?

Honey, 6 more *years* of unemployment isn't going to give you an opportunity to save enough money to make the move and live here...

Median home price is $1.1m. Average rent in the UC Irvine neighborhood is $3000 for a 920 SQ ft apartment.

They conveniently left out the actual jobs these people had and only list the general field, "healthcare/education".

If I lost my job today I have no doubt I'd have a job tomorrow. It might not be a job I want but it would provide income until I found a job I "wanted".

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
While I agree with you in principle, you need to realize that every person who gets their unemployment cut off is a potential new Democratic voter. In states that are hanging red by a thread, this could flip them. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done. But there can be consequences, and we'd have to live with them.

The Democrats are masters of buying votes with taxpayers money.

Something tells me they are already democratic voters.

quote:

Originally posted by gpbst3:
They conveniently left out the actual jobs these people had and only list the general field, "healthcare/education".

Right now a lot of places around where I live are running short staffed on medical workers and there's currently a $10K hiring bonus for RNs.

Everybody, and I mean absolutely everybody has now hiring signs out.

Anyone who can't get a job doesn't want a job.

I'm glad I live in a state where we're taking the lazy freeloaders off the public teat.

Plenty of jobs here in Centx....get off your lazy ass and go knock on doors.

And as far as not wanting to work at McDonalds....I’d do anything to feed my family....this guy deserves what he gets

My big kid cuts hair for a living, guess who’s been really hit hard by the state shutting them down and threatening their licensing...yet he’s not been given a handout, he’s been refused three times for different programs

quote:

'Workers' in 25 states brace for early unemployment shutoff

Uhhh, the 'Workers' don't need to brace for anything...

if they were workers they wouldn't be worrying about UI being curtailed

the only people worried are moochers and leeches

Great news

Thankfully WV is among them and finally ending it this month. The biggest obstacle for *every* business owner I've spoken with around here is finding anyone to work. One corporation that owns a variety of different restaurants around here has been running "help wanted" on facebook offering $16 per hour plus tips for waitresses. It's hard to compete with unemployment payouts.

These unemployment leaches piss me off to no end; I could have made almost $5,000 more in the last 12 months if I had gone on unemployment but my employer retained most of the employees because it was cheaper in the long run to keep employees employed than to go through the torturous process of rehiring.

Republican voters don't get laid off also? The allure of free money is strong, and it's very addicting. Some who's been voting Republican who thinks they've been screwed out of money they've been getting by a Republican governor, can very easily flip.

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:

quote:

Originally posted by BBMW:
While I agree with you in principle, you need to realize that every person who gets their unemployment cut off is a potential new Democratic voter. In states that are hanging red by a thread, this could flip them. I'm not saying it shouldn't be done. But there can be consequences, and we'd have to live with them.

The Democrats are masters of buying votes with taxpayers money.

Something tells me they are already democratic voters.

Govt never should have had the power nor the will to do what it did. Now we have a mess that shows us why.

Since the states doing this are drawn on party lines, it shouldn't be hard to analyze the outcome after a few months to see where things worked out the best.
Then the MSM spin machine will go into action or fail to mention this at all.

I've been out of work since April 3, 2020. I was furloughed along with several other project managers and engineers, then let go after 3 months. Most of our work was in the refineries, steel mills and specialty chemicals. They all cut their capital spending, so our workload dried up.
Every day I look at Ladders, Indeed, LinkedIn. I'm lucky if I can find one position a week that matches my skill-set. So far in 14 months, I have gotten ONE interview. At 66 years old, there may be some age discrimination at work. Although I live in IL my Unemployment Insurance comes from IN, one of the states that cutting benefits. I have been borrowing from my life insurance to make ends meet. I may have to start taking SS, but I have a mountain of debt and really can't afford to retire. Sorry for the rant but things are tough. My Democrat wife and daughter never miss an opportunity to remind me of the party that is cutting my benefits.
Bob(will manage projects for ammo)