Are People.still Getting Unemployment

Is There A Labor Shortage

WHAT MATTERS: Republican governors are rejecting expanded federal unemployment benefits for their citizens because they say there is a labor shortage restaurants cant open, goes the storyline, because workers would rather collect unemployment and not work. Whats really happening?

TAPPE:Americas labor market is in a weird spot. On the one hand, some employers just cant find workers to stem rising demand for goods and services. Meanwhile, millions of people remain unemployed or out of the labor market . As of April, America was still down 8.2 million jobs compared to February 2020.

So what gives?

Millions of American workers still need the enhanced unemployment assistance, which provides an additional $300 per week. It is earmarked to end in September. Research from Bank of America recently found that the pandemic-era benefits indeed do keep people from looking for work but only if people made less than $32,000 per year before, which is less than half the national median income. For these low-income workers, it makes sense not to work but to collect benefits, while for higher-income earners it doesnt.

But income might only be one part of the puzzle. Workers still have to weigh health risks and care obligations against a return to work.

Why Did Benefits End Early In So Many States

Citing labor shortages in the spring, 26 state governors claimed pandemic-related unemployment benefits were producing limited incentives for workers to take jobs. Many economists and analysts disagreed, highlighting several factors that prevented people from finding suitable work, including low wages, lack of health care, inadequate child care and fear of contracting COVID-19.

With unemployment claims still fluctuating as the economy struggles to return to pre-pandemic normalcy, reports are showing that the premature cancellation of the federal programs had little impact on labor markets. A recent JP Morgan Chase Institute study confirmed that states that ended supplemental unemployment insurance programs during the summer saw a limited impact on job growth.

According to an August report by the Century Foundations Andrew Stettner, Politics, not economics, drove the attack on unemployment insurance. The states that cut off the enhanced benefits before the federal expiration were mostly Republican-led.

Arkansas, Indiana and Maryland were slated to cut off benefits early, but successful lawsuits forced those states to preserve the federal coverage, at least temporarily. In issuing their rulings, judges noted that the ending of benefits made it harder for the unemployed to afford basic needs. Lawsuits were also filed against state governors elsewhere, which were either denied by judges or are still held up in the courts.

Which States Are Ending Federal Unemployment Benefits Early

This list has the date each state will stop offering federal pandemic unemployment benefits. It also shows which states are offering bonuses to people who take jobs this summer, and the latest work-search requirements for unemployment eligibility.

Weâre updating this list regularly. Have new information for your state? Let us know at @ForbesAdvisor on Twitter.

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Is Unemployment Bonus Keeping Workers On Sideline

Despite a stubbornly high unemployment rate of 6.1% in April representing 9.8 million people who say they are actively looking for work many employers are reporting that they cant find people to hire.

Republicans say the $300 a week supplement to unemployment insurance, which for many Americans amounts to a pay raise, is so generous that it is acting as a disincentive for people to return to work.

President Joe Biden, meanwhile, dismisses that suggestion, saying on May 10, we dont see much evidence of that.

Americans want to work, Biden said. I think the people who claim Americans wont work even if they find a good and fair opportunity underestimate the American people.

After the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a disappointing gain of 266,000 jobs in April, a reporter asked Biden if the enhanced unemployment benefits were diminishing a return to work in some categories.

No, nothing measurable, Biden said on May 7.

Biden and others in his administration argue there are other bigger drivers of labor shortages such as access to child care and the fact that most people still were not vaccinated against COVID-19 when the April jobs surveys were performed.

Republicans say Biden is ignoring the obvious.

At a recent county tour stop in Iowa, Sen. Joni Ernst said she heard from a number of small business owners that were very concerned about getting people back to work. They cannot find the help that they need.

How Much Are Unemployment Benefits In My State

There isnt a universal amount for unemployment benefits in the U.S. each state uses its own formula. You wont know how much you will receive from your state until after you apply. Typically, the amount you receive in unemployment aid is based on a percentage of your previous 12 months of income. Theres a maximum weekly benefit amount, so you will default to the maximum amount if your weekly payout from your most recent job is larger than that. Unemployment benefits are taxed as if they are wages. Depending on where you live, you may also have to pay state income taxes on your unemployment benefits.

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I Have Been Exposed To Covid

What if I am asked by a medical professional or public health official to quarantine as a result of COVID-19, but I am not sick?

All eligibility decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis. If you are following guidance issued by a medical professional or public health official to isolate or quarantine yourself as a result of exposure to COVID-19 and you are not receiving paid sick leave from your employer, you may be eligible to receive regular unemployment benefits.

What should I do if I contract COVID-19 on the job?

See information from the Dept. of Labor and Industries information on Workers Compensation. If you plan to apply for unemployment benefits, review COVID-19 information on our website.

What is a request to isolate or quarantine?

A request to isolate or quarantine is:

• A letter documenting a voluntary request or involuntary order to isolate or quarantine from a medical professional, local health official, or the Secretary of Health.
• A note from your medical provider or medical records office recommending isolation or quarantine.
• A self-determination that Department of Healths quarantine guidance applies to you.
• An order from Gov. Inslee to “Stay Home, Stay Healthy.”

Do I qualify for unemployment benefits if I become seriously ill and I am forced to quit my job as a result of COVID-19?

Inflation Is Making Everything More Expensive

WHAT MATTERS: The other economic issue were hearing a lot about is inflation. Everything is getting more expensive. Thats worrying given how many people are still unemployed, right?

TAPPE: Inflation is rising because Americans are spending more money again. In principle thats a really good thing because the US economy runs on consumer spending, so every dollar counts. The Federal Reserve, as well as economists, predict that prices will keep rising this summer as the economy fully reopens and people spend on things like traveling again, before they eventually normalize. One worry is that prices will rise so fast that they discourage people from spending. That would be really bad news for the recovery, but so far there is little indication of that happening.

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My Existing Unemployment Claim Has Been Impacted By Covid

I received a letter saying that I need to schedule and attend a required appointment with an employment specialist at WorkSource. Do I still need to schedule and attend?

Yes. As of Jan. 11, 2021, you must schedule and attend a virtual online or phone appointment if you receive the letter. The only exception:

• If you have returned to work full time, you dont need to schedule the appointment. Before the deadline, you must call or email the WorkSource office listed in your letter. Give us your employers name, address, phone number and the date you started work.

If you have returned to work part time, you still need to schedule and attend the virtual online or phone appointment. Carefully follow instructions in the letter. If you dont schedule and attend the virtual online or phone appointment, we may deny your unemployment benefits and you may have to repay some or all of the benefits you received. During your appointment, we will help you with your resume, retraining information, referrals to in-demand jobs, and more. We will make your time worthwhile! Research shows that people who use WorkSource get back to work sooner and earn higher wages than people who dont.

How am I supposed to meet deadlines related to my existing unemployment claim if I am in isolation or quarantine as a result of COVID-19?

Progress reports for training programs can be submitted with whatever information you have available. For example, if your school has closed, return your paperwork and tell us.

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2. Call the appropriate STATE legislator that represents you. They verify you live in their district, so be sure to reach out to the appropriate congressperson. Emails seem to take longer to get a response, so calling is faster as members of State Legislatures have people answering their phones.

3. Tell them your problem with unemployment and ask for their help. The congressmens office will have a designated person inside their office who handles unemployment issues. That person will tell you that they can connect to unemployment on your behalf and that they have been assigned a real person at the unemployment office to work with. They get you info, and then they work their magic. Youll find that they either fix the problem or get someone who can fix it at unemployment to call you. Give them a number you will answer. If it is your cell, be sure the ringer is on as unemployment will only call you once or twice, and if you miss them, there is no number to call them back. Do not miss the call.

4. The problem should get resolved within a week, and all the money due you will then be paid to you retroactive to the day you first filed for unemployment.

Joe emailed to say this strategy of contacting his state representative worked for him. It worked for my relative too, and the other ten people I have advised to try it. They were in different states, and it has been effective. Once your unemployment money starts, you file each week and get paid. Problem solved.

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There Are More People Getting Unemployment Benefits Than There Are Unemployed Workers

• The share of people getting jobless benefits in May exceeded the share of unemployed workers for the first time in history.
• Some economists said the dynamic was puzzling.
• It makes sense given the federal expansion of unemployment benefits and how certain unemployment metrics are calculated.

Amid the recent good news about stronger-than-expected job growth in May, some economists have eyed one labor statistic with a sense of bewilderment.

Specifically, the share of people getting jobless benefits last month exceeded the share of unemployed workers.

On its face, that may seem impossible how could there be more people collecting unemployment than there are actual unemployed people?

That had never previously occurred since the government began collecting data on the “insured unemployment rate” in the early 1970s.

Economists took to Twitter to express confusion over the anomaly after the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its most recent jobs report on June 5.

Jay Shambaugh, an economist at the Brookings Institution, called it “puzzling.”

But the situation makes sense when accounting for an expansion of unemployment benefits provided by federal relief legislation and differences in how the statistics are determined, according to experts.

Scarcity Of Research On $300 Bonus

But things are different now.

Now, there is an increase in the number of job postings, so it is possible that the reduction in applications caused by unemployment insurance contributes to reducing job finding, Marinescu told us via email. Because of higher unemployment benefits, employers may be getting fewer applications for each job than before the pandemic. However, no one has quantified this , and we cannot tell how big the influence of unemployment insurance is on job finding relative to other factors such as concerns about health or lack of childcare. In this sense, Biden is correct to say nothing measurable.’

Indeed, according to Opportunity Insights TrackTheRecovery.org, job postings in the U.S. have increased 5.5% compared with January 2020, before the pandemic.

Despite an unemployment rate that remains stubbornly high, the 8.1 million job openings at the end of March outpaced hires by 2.1 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That gap between job openings and hires is the largest since the data became available in 2000. Pre-pandemic, in January 2020, job openings outpaced hires by nearly 1.2 million, so there was a gap then too, but not as large.

Calling for an end to the enhanced unemployment benefit, Republican Sen. Rob Portman said that with vaccines widely available and a record number of job openings, there is no reason the federal government should be paying people not to work.

But as we said earlier, not all economists agree.

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I Was Furloughed By My Employer But They Have Now Reopened And Asked Me To Return To My Job Can I Remain On Unemployment

No. As a general matter, individuals receiving regular unemployment compensation must act upon any referral to suitable employment and must accept any offer of suitable employment. Barring unusual circumstances, a request that a furloughed employee return to his or her job very likely constitutes an offer of suitable employment that the employee must accept.

While eligibility for PUA does not turn on whether an individual is actively seeking work, it does require that the individual be unemployed, partially employed, or unable or unavailable to work due to certain circumstances that are a direct result of COVID-19 or the COVID-19 public health emergency. In the situation outlined here, an employee who had been furloughed because his or her employer has closed the place of employment would potentially be eligible for PUA while the employer remained closed, assuming the closure was a direct result of the COVID-19 public health emergency and other qualifying conditions are satisfied. However, as soon as the business reopens and the employee is recalled for work, as in the example above, eligibility for PUA would cease unless the individual could identify some other qualifying circumstance outlined in the CARES Act.

How State Unemployment Systems Crashed Under The Weight Of The Pandemic

States use computer systems to match your unemployment claims with wage data thats submitted monthly by employers. While humans once performed this process, now its largely up to computers. The infrastructure is largely centered around this matching process, Alí Bustamante, senior research associate at the Roosevelt Institute, explains. Bustamante was previously chief economist at the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

The automated process works well enough in normal times, Bustamante explains, as most people applying for unemployment benefits are W-2 workers who can be matched up with employer reports in the back end of the states system.

But the CARES Act opened up unemployment benefit access to millions of additional workers, including the self-employed. Adding a flood of additional workers to state systems at the same time created what Bustamante describes as an obscenely complicated process. States technological systems just werent prepared.

According to Bustamante, although states have received funding to bolster staffing for labor departments, they primarily used that money to hire call center staff on a contract basis. Call centers arent case workers, Bustamante says. They cant process claims. Even if you spoke to someone on the phone about your application, your questions may have been put in another stack to be addressed later.

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How Do I Apply

To receive unemployment insurance benefits, you need to file a claim with the unemployment insurance program in the state where you worked. Depending on the state, claims may be filed in person, by telephone, or online.

• You should contact your state’s unemployment insurance program as soon as possible after becoming unemployed.
• Generally, you should file your claim with the state where you worked. If you worked in a state other than the one where you now live or if you worked in multiple states, the state unemployment insurance agency where you now live can provide information about how to file your claim with other states.
• When you file a claim, you will be asked for certain information, such as addresses and dates of your former employment. To make sure your claim is not delayed, be sure to give complete and correct information.
• Find the contact information for your state’s unemployment office to start your claim.

If I Am Eligible For Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Do I Need To First Apply For Unemployment Insurance

States must have a process for determining that Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applicants are ineligible for regular unemployment benefits, which may not include filing a regular claim as a first step. States are not required to take and adjudicate a full claim for regular unemployment insurance benefits to meet this requirement. While states are not prohibited from taking a full claim, to facilitate expedited claims processing the U.S. Department of Labor has discouraged states from doing so. Individuals should apply using the states PUA application process and, in states that have not yet established that process, must wait until it is established.

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