J.P.Morgan har analyseret omfanget af understøttelsen til de medarbejdere, der er blevet fyret under coronakrisen. Kongressen er dybt splittet om understøttelsens omfang, og der er ikke lavet en forlængelse, og det rammer millioner af fyrede. Analysen viser, at medarbejderne får mere ud af at blive fyret og få understøttelse end at være på arbejde.
Thought of the week
By the end of this month, the weekly $600 extra unemployment payment under the CARES Act expired while Congress and the Administration negotiate some form of extension for the program. As we entered the deepest recession since the Great Depression and reached a record high unemployment rate of 14.7%, the CARES Act provided generous benefits to cushion the blow.
As shown in this week’s chart, the weekly earnings of all production and nonsupervisory workers averaged $839 in June, while those who lost their jobs were mostly lower wage earners, with an average of $692 in weekly wages.
The regular pre-pandemic unemployment insurance program pays $342 weekly, about half of their salaries, but with the enhancement provided by the government, many have made more than they would have done if they were still employed.
While this stimulus has kept consumer spending afloat, it has discouraged some from returning to their jobs, thus adding to the challenges facing employers. With COVID-19 cases continuing to grow and joblessness still very high, there is heavy pressure on Congress to extend enhanced unemployment benefits in order to avoid widespread poverty.
However, any new program will need to strike a delicate balance between providing enough support for households to pay their bills while still leaving an incentive for people to work rather than remain unememployed.
