Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf | governor.pa.gov/
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf | governor.pa.gov/
Gov. Tom Wolf is continuing to support the expanded federal COVID-19 unemployment benefits even as businesses can't find enough people to fill open positions.
CBS News reports many states are ending the enhanced unemployment benefits. The governors of these states are doing so in an effort to incentivize people to get back on the job market.
According to a NY Times report, the typical worker in Pennsylvania will actually make more by collecting unemployment with the additional federal assistance than they would by have a normal job.
However, businesses are currently struggling to keep their stores staffed during the post-pandemic recovery as millions of workers remain on unemployment collecting benefits, Keystone Today reports. Job quality and risk factors are some of the issues individuals are citing as the reasons they are not returning to the workforce at the moment.
Other states are putting more strict requirements on unemployment benefits, such as Florida with Gov. Ron DeSantis. In Florida the job search requirement is being reinstated, requiring claimants to prove their job searching activity.
A recent study from the University of Chicago found that simply cutting down the number of unemployment benefits recipients could drive up increased job growth by 75%. This could make a huge difference in Pennsylvania and around the country, where hiring has become more difficult.
Pennsylvania's current unemployment rate is 7.3% as of March, according to the Department of Labor & Industry.
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