$600 Federal Unemployment Benefits Expire Next Week
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What deadline is looming for the $600 federal unemployment boost?
Here's your money briefing for Monday, July 20th. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. Millions of Americans receiving unemployment benefits have July 31st circled on their calendar. That's the end of next week. And it's when the $600 a week boost to jobless benefits is set to expire.
For most low-wage workers, these benefits pay them actually more than they earned at their jobs, which allows them to continue to make that rent payment as well as buy groceries and other necessities.
Congress has been considering whether or not to extend the benefit, but there's no consensus yet. Our reporter Eric Morath has been checking in on the negotiations in Congress. He'll join us after the break.
During the pandemic, Americans on unemployment have been getting an extra $600 a week from the federal government in addition to their state jobless payments.
Who is affected and how have $600 payments changed household finances?
For many people, it's been a difference maker in paying rent and putting food on the table. But those funds approved by Congress in March expire next week, and so far they haven't been renewed. Let's bring in our reporter Eric Morath from Washington to find out what lawmakers are saying. So, Eric, July 31st has been on a lot of people's radar for a while, and a lot of people are still hurting financially. Why has it taken this long for lawmakers to come to an agreement to renew the funds?
Remember, when these were put into place, this was mid to late March. And at that time, there's a lot of uncertainty around the economy. Provided there still is. But at that time, you know, businesses were closed and many closed on the state mandate. You know, now things have changed. So lawmakers actually put this in so they'd have to reconsider it several months later. And now that's where the debate is. Things have changed.
Why has Congress delayed agreeing to extend the $600 benefit?
Most states have taken steps to reopen their economy. And some lawmakers are saying, hey, we need to reopen the economy. We need to reduce these benefits, encourage people to go back to work. While others say, you know, like you said, many people are unemployed, unprecedented high numbers of joblessness, and this support needs to continue.
But has the rise in infections and the rollback of reopenings around the country sort of changed the direction of the talks?
It's certainly given more fuel to Democrats who are pushing to maintain these benefits into next year. They're saying if you look at these increased infection rates and what appears to be some initial signs of a slowdown in hiring, that there really aren't jobs available to absorb the 25 million or more people who are receiving these enhanced benefits.
Yeah, there seems to be a real fear of a domino effect if a new round of these jobless benefits is not approved by the end of the month.
The fear is that we'll see a dramatic hit to the U.S. economy. You know, if you think back to the last recession in 2007 to 2009, one of the hallmarks of that was unemployment. A lot of foreclosures, a lot of people being evicted, a lot of people not being able to make their car payments. We actually haven't seen that this time, even though unemployment has been higher. And these benefits are a big reason why. For most low-wage workers, these benefits pay them actually more than they earned at their jobs, which allows them to continue to make that rent payment as well as buy groceries and other necessities.
But businesses sort of come down on both sides of this.
Yeah, that's right. Some businesses, and I talked to an operator of a call center in Kentucky, said they're actually turning down work and not hiring as many people as they could because workers aren't willing to come work for them, even work from home for about $15 an hour because they're being paid more on unemployment benefits. They see these benefits as a detriment to growth. But other businesses, and I spoke to a beauty supply store in Alabama, and he said, hey, if these benefits are cut off, he fears that he's going to see a repeat of what he saw in March, which is a sharp fall in consumer spending and customers not coming to his stores.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What deadline is looming for the $600 federal unemployment boost?
0:05–0:59
2
Who is affected and how have $600 payments changed household finances?
0:59–1:49
3
Why has Congress delayed agreeing to extend the $600 benefit?
1:49–4:31
4
How have rising COVID-19 infections shifted lawmakers' positions on benefits?
4:31–6:13
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