Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh on Thursday told Democrats in Congress that the Administration does not intend to extend the $ 300 federal unemployment bonus after the Dec. 6 expiration date. September. Keep the confetti.
“As President Biden has said, the increase was always intended to be temporary and it is appropriate for that benefit to expire,” secretaries wrote to Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Richard Neal. But they added: “There are some states where it may make sense for unemployed workers to continue to receive additional help for a longer period of time.”
They implicitly recognize that unemployment continues to rise much more in Democratic-led states. Unemployment nationwide fell to 5.4% in July, but topped 7% in Nevada (7.7%), California (7.6%), New Mexico (7.6%), New York (7.6%), Connecticut (7.3%), New Jersey (7.3%) and Illinois (7.1%). They all have Democratic governors.
On the other hand, unemployment in some Republican-led states such as Nebraska (2.3%), Utah (2.6%) and South Dakota (2.9%) has reached pre-pandemic levels. Others include New Hampshire (2.9%), Idaho (3.0%), Alabama (3.2%), Oklahoma (3.5%), Georgia (3.7%) and Indiana (4.1%). they are not far away.
One of the reasons is that they did not impose excessive blockades. Another is that most Republican Party states ended the $ 300 bonus and other emergency benefits and 78 weeks of eligibility for benefits in June or July (usually 26 weeks). Last month’s unemployment rate averaged 4.4% in the 25 states that ended benefits in June or July and 5.7% in the others. However, progressives insist that unemployment sweeteners do not reduce incentives to work.