18 U.S. states to stop paying federal unemployment benefits this summer to stimulate employment

A growing number of Republican-led states in the United States are planning to end additional unemployment benefits designed to help unemployed Americans survive the COVID-19 (Chinese Communist virus) outbreak. They say the action will help businesses and enterprises that are having trouble hiring employees.

In the past week, at least 18 states have decided to end the additional unemployment benefits early, Foxbusiness reported. These benefits are an additional $300 per week in unemployment benefits that states provide in addition to their regular state unemployment benefits. This additional benefit will not expire until Sept. 6, 2021.

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming announced that they will stop giving unemployed workers the additional $300 per week in unemployment benefits.

The new decision is based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s April employment report. That report showed that the U.S. added only 266,000 jobs last month, well below the 1 million forecast by Refinitiv economists. Republican lawmakers were quick to blame the lack of job growth on additional unemployment benefits. But some experts also point to a lack of child care and fear of contracting COVID-19 (the Chinese Communist virus) as reasons for the labor shortage.