Extra unemployment benefits ending for 2.5M Americans this weekend

About 2.5 million out-of-work Americans are poised to lose their enhanced unemployment benefits this weekend as 10 states prematurely drop out of a pandemic relief program that boosted jobless aid by $300 a week.

Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Utah will terminate the extra unemployment benefits this weekend, joining 12 other states that cut off the aid earlier this summer. About 2.5 million workers will lose their benefits, according to one analysis conducted by the Century Foundation, a left-leaning think tank.

In total, 26 states are ending the assistance this summer, a move they contend will help businesses that are struggling to find workers. Just one, Louisiana, is led by a Democratic governor. 

THESE 26 STATES ARE ENDING $300 UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS THIS SUMMER

Critics argue that other factors, such as a lack of child care, are the reason for lackluster hiring and have said that opting out of the relief program before it's officially slated to end on Sept. 6 will hurt unemployed Americans, leaving them with no income as they search for a new job. 

"The reality is that the strength of the jobs market, not the size of unemployment benefits, will determine how fast Americans can return to where they want to be: a job," said Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation. "In the meantime, workers should not be forced to rely on unbelievably low unemployment pay."

The cuts will ultimately affect 4 million Americans who are currently receiving benefits, including 2 million who will lose assistance altogether.

The unemployment programs were established in March 2020 – and renewed twice by Congress – as the pandemic forced an unprecedented shutdown of the nation's economy, pushing unemployment to the highest level since the Great Depression. In addition to providing an extra $300 a week, the programs provided aid to workers who were not typically eligible and extended state unemployment benefits once they had been exhausted.

JOB SEARCHES SPIKED IN STATES PREMATURELY ENDING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

The average state unemployment benefit is about $330 per week. With the federal supplement, Americans are receiving about $630 in weekly unemployment benefits. (For comparison's sake, that's about $32,000 annually, or roughly double the nation's minimum wage.)  

But as the economy reopens, companies have complained about a lack of available workers. Labor Department data from April and May shows anemic job growth well below economists' expectations. There's some evidence that ending unemployment benefits led to an uptick in job searches; early data published by Indeed shows that job search activity rose by 5% the day each state announced its plan to cut off the sweetened aid.

The increase was temporary, disappearing by the eighth day after the announcement, Indeed found. By the second week following the announcement, job search activity in the states had returned to its April levels. Some experts say there are other returns for workers' reticence about returning to the labor force, including a lack of child care and continuing fears of contracting COVID-19.

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There remain about 7.4 million fewer jobs than there were in February 2020, before the pandemic shut down broad swaths of the nation's economy. 

About 14.8 million workers are relying on some form of unemployment benefits as their main source of income, according to the Century Foundation.