States Pulling Out of Unemployment Benefits Keeps Growing

A new report from the US Employment and Training Administration shows that millions of Americans across the country are still in need of unemployment stimulus funds.

They found that on average, just 3 states are paying more than 100% of employees' wages collecting unemployment, with the other 47 states making less than they would if they were working when including the UI and $300 FPUC weekly payments.

Just Montana (111.2%), Wyoming (103.4%), and North Dakota (100.4%) are paying out more than 100%, and 3 states are currently paying less than 60% of employees salaries: California (53.6%), New York (54.9), and Connecticut (59.6%).

David Cooper, a senior economic analyst at EPI, explained: “The economy is simply not at a place where we should be cutting back UI benefits. There are far more people looking for work and unable to find it than there are employers unable to fill vacancies, and pulling back on UI will only slow down the recovery.”

I completely agree that we still need these vital extended enhanced unemployment benefits, and hopefully, Washington will listen to the economists for once and fund more stimulus unemployment funds for struggling Americans.