Samuel Case, FISM News
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It looks like the efforts from Republican states to jump start the economy by ending additional Covid unemployment benefits had a positive effect.
Jed Kolko, the chief economist for Indeed, says that in states which announced benefits are ending, “shares of national clicks on job postings was nearly 5% higher on announcement day, relative to a baseline of the last two weeks of April.” This increase was temporary, however, only lasting for 8 days.
Though this uptick was short-lived, Kolk told the Washington Examiner that Indeed may see another jump in searches once the additional benefits expire this June and July. “It depends how aware people are, for starters, but I think even more importantly it depends on how much else is going on with the labor market and the pandemic that might also affect peoples’ search behaviors,” Kolko said.
The Examiner reports “tourism, hospitality, sales, and marketing saw the greatest increases, although search activity also rose among career paths not typically associated with lower wages, such as banking, finance, and the medical field.”
Earlier this month FISM News reported that Gov. Mike Parson (R) of Missouri and Gov. Bill Lee (R) of Tennessee joined the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, and South Carolina in withdrawing from the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program following a disappointing April job’s reports, which were only a quarter of what analysts projected.
In a news conference Parson stated,
It’s time that we end these programs that have incentivized people to stay out of the workforce. This is an important step to returning to normalcy and strengthening our economy.
Gov. Lee made similar comments in a statement announcing a June 3rd end to Tennessee’s participation in the federal program, saying,
We will no longer participate in federal pandemic unemployment programs because Tennesseans have access to more than 250,000 jobs in our state. Families, businesses and our economy thrive when we focus on meaningful employment and move on from short-term, federal fixes.”
Democrats pointed to other reasons for the dismal April jobs report, citing lack of daycare, pandemic-related fears, and people waiting on vaccinations to be at fault.