{"id":731719,"date":"2021-09-08T20:35:16","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T00:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=731719"},"modified":"2021-09-08T20:35:22","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T00:35:22","slug":"expanded-unemployment-benefits-hindered-main-street-recovery-small-business-owners-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/expanded-unemployment-benefits-hindered-main-street-recovery-small-business-owners-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Expanded Unemployment Benefits Hindered Main Street Recovery, Small Business Owners Say"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexpanded-unemployment-benefits-hindered-main-street-recovery-small-business-owners-say%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=731719&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><ul>\n<li><strong>Pandemic-related unemployment benefits slowed the economic recovery by incentivizing out-of-work Americans to remain unemployed, small business owners said.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cPeople won\u2019t return calls, they won\u2019t return texts, they don\u2019t return emails,\u201d Janey Moores, the CEO of Kentucky-based staffing firm BJM &amp; Associates, told the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA). \u201cWe post things on all the social media sites, all the job boards. Everywhere. People just aren\u2019t looking for work. They\u2019ve got money, magically I guess in their minds, coming into their bank accounts and they\u2019re not interested in working.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The recently-expired unemployment boost often paid better than working and, therefore, forced employers to compete with government programs when hiring workers, according to a FGA paper shared exclusively with the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Pandemic-related unemployment benefits slowed the economic recovery by incentivizing out-of-work Americans to remain unemployed, small business owners said.<\/p>\n<p>The recently-expired unemployment boost often paid better than working and, therefore, forced employers to compete with government programs when hiring workers, according to a Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) paper shared exclusively with the Daily Caller News Foundation. Authors of the paper concluded that it is important for the nation\u2019s economic recovery that Americans return to work soon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe negative response by some to these benefits expiring is a perfect example of a simple issue being overcomplicated, all in the name of more government,\u201d FGA Senior Fellow Joe Horvath, who authored the paper, told the DCNF. \u201cThese federal unemployment benefits were created because governments forced businesses to close, and those closures eliminated jobs. Now, businesses are ready to reopen, ready to hire, and ready to pull themselves back from the brink.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Small businesses have been forced to take desperate measures to attract workers and avoid closures amid the pandemic, according to Horvath\u2019s paper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have paid higher salaries than they\u2019ve had in years and years,\u201d Janey Moores, the CEO of Kentucky-based staffing firm BJM &amp; Associates, told the FGA. \u201cWe\u2019ve paid double time and triple time.\u201d <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/03\/united-states-economy-joe-biden-economic-growth-pandemic\/\">(RELATED: US Economy Added Just 235,000 Jobs In August, Way Short Of Economists\u2019 Projections)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut people won\u2019t return calls, they won\u2019t return texts, they don\u2019t return emails,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe post things on all the social media sites, all the job boards. Everywhere. People just aren\u2019t looking for work. They\u2019ve got money, magically I guess in their minds, coming into their bank accounts and they\u2019re not interested in working.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moores was one of several small business owners interviewed by the FGA for the paper, which found that the continuation of generous government welfare programs ultimately rewarded Americans who stayed at home while the economy opened up.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7277642\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"34\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7277642\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7277642\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1228658707-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"&quot;Store Closing&quot; signs are posted at a &quot;Sur La Table&quot; kitchenware store amid the pandemic in Los Angeles, California. (Valerie Macon\/AFP via Getty Images)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1228658707-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1228658707-166x120.jpg 166w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1228658707-620x449.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1228658707-768x556.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1228658707-1536x1112.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1228658707-2048x1483.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1228658707-70x52.jpg 70w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7277642\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cStore Closing\u201d signs are posted at a \u201cSur La Table\u201d kitchenware store amid the pandemic in Los Angeles, California. (Valerie Macon\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Monday, the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program, which was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/116th-congress\/house-bill\/748\/text\">introduced<\/a> at the beginning of the pandemic and later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/117\/bills\/hr1319\/BILLS-117hr1319enr.pdf\">extended<\/a>, expired <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/19\/joe-biden-administration-pandemic-unemployment-bonus-expiration-janet-yellen-marty-walsh\/\">without pushback<\/a> from the White House. The March 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/116th-congress\/senate-bill\/3548\/text\">implemented<\/a> the program as a $600 weekly bonus and the American Rescue Plan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/house-bill\/1319\/text\">extended<\/a> it as a $300 weekly bonus.<\/p>\n<p>More than 11 million Americans lost access to emergency unemployment benefits when the FPUC expired Monday, <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.oxfordeconomics.com\/coronavirus\/pandemic-unemployment-benefits-ending-for-millions\">according<\/a> to an Oxford Economics estimate. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/09\/labor-shortage-record-unemployment-united-states-economy-business\/\">(RELATED: US Labor Shortage Surges To New Record High As Unemployment Remains Elevated)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Most states had <a href=\"https:\/\/azgovernor.gov\/governor\/news\/2021\/05\/governor-ducey-announces-arizona-back-work\">withdrawn<\/a> from the program by July 31, <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/17\/united-states-economy-unemployment-joe-biden-jobless-claims\/\">causing<\/a> decreased jobless claims compared to the 24 states that remained enrolled. A <a href=\"https:\/\/files.michaelstepner.com\/pandemicUIexpiration-paper.pdf\">study<\/a> conducted by economists from Columbia University, the National Bureau of Economic Research and other universities found that the states that withdrew experienced 20% more job growth while a Goldman Sachs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gspublishing.com\/content\/research\/en\/reports\/2021\/08\/21\/80a7093f-b7a9-4a05-84e3-a28ac2adab70.html\">analysis<\/a> concluded the expiration of emergency benefits led to unemployed people returning to work quicker.<\/p>\n<p>The preliminary results of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mercatus.org\/system\/files\/farren_-_policy_brief_-_covid-19_expanded_unemployment_insurance_benefits_may_have_discouraged_a_faster_recovery_-_v1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study<\/a> from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University released Sept. 3 supported the conclusions made by the researchers from Columbia University and other institutions. The Mercatus Center researchers, though, acknowledged that more data had to be collected to understand the full effects of increased unemployment benefits during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe federal UI benefits, plus other cash-type welfare programs, added up to more than some people would make working full-time,\u201d the FGA\u2019s Joe Horvath told the DCNF. \u201cYou can\u2019t blame individuals for making a rational choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut we also couldn\u2019t afford to keep them going, or else we\u2019d risk turning store fronts\u2019 \u2018Help Wanted\u2019 signs into \u2018Closed\u2019 signs,\u201d Horvath said. \u201cThe only thing left to do not is make sure states don\u2019t perpetuate the hiring crisis by creating their own enhanced unemployment benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Job growth, meanwhile, has fallen <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/09\/03\/united-states-economy-joe-biden-economic-growth-pandemic\/\">far behind<\/a> expectations and U.S. employers continue to report <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/09\/labor-shortage-record-unemployment-united-states-economy-business\/\">record numbers<\/a> of job openings nationwide, according to Department of Labor data. The labor market <a href=\"https:\/\/fred.stlouisfed.org\/series\/PAYEMS\">remains<\/a> about 5.5 million jobs below its pre-pandemic level while there are 10.9 million jobs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/news.release\/jolts.nr0.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">available<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Half of all small business owners said they had job vacancies that they were unable to fill, a Sept. 2 National Federation of Independent Business survey <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfib.com\/content\/press-release\/economy\/new-nfib-jobs-report-staggering-50-percent-of-small-business-owners-report-job-openings-they-cant-fill\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">showed<\/a>. A record 66% of all small business owners reported hiring or trying to hire last month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe original enhanced unemployment, the $600, probably the majority of our people did not want to work at all,\u201d Ralph Smith, the director of human resources at The Fiesta Tableware Company in West Virginia, told the FGA. \u201cThey felt they were much better off at home. Even some supervisory personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7277643\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"35\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7277643\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7277643\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1300559816-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"A &quot;now hiring&quot; sign is displayed on the front of Goodman Lumber on Feb. 5, 2021 in Mill Valley, California. (Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1300559816-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1300559816-180x120.jpg 180w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1300559816-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1300559816-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1300559816-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-1300559816-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7277643\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A \u201cnow hiring\u201d sign is displayed on the front of Goodman Lumber on Feb. 5, 2021 in Mill Valley, California. (Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Smith said workers at the Fiesta warehouse were able to make more money on unemployment during the pandemic than the company paid. When Fiesta looked for job applicants using Ohio and West Virginia government resources, they didn\u2019t receive a single r\u00e9sum\u00e9, Smith added.<\/p>\n<p>A single parent with two kids could make more than $44,000 per year and as much as $52,000 per year in a state like Hawaii with the $300 weekly emergency bonus, an FGA report <a href=\"https:\/\/thefga.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Unemployment-Benefits-Are-Paying-Better-Than-Work.pdf\">published<\/a> in May found. The average employed American earns $56,310 per year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bls.gov\/oes\/2020\/may\/oes_nat.htm\">according<\/a> to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to put out so many ads to get people to come in, but the ads aren\u2019t even working right now to get anyone in to apply for a job,\u201d Kiki Cyrus of South Carolina food chain Kiki\u2019s Chicken and Waffles told the FGA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey rather not work, they rather take the free money and not work at all,\u201d she added. \u201cAny restaurant you go to right now is hiring, any other business right now, they\u2019re hiring.\u201d <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/12\/joe-biden-economic-recovery-job-growth-united-states\/\">(RELATED: ANALYSIS: Biden Keeps Making The Same Dubious Jobs Claim)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>During the pandemic, Cyrus started a referral program that awarded employees with a $300 bonus if they recommended someone for a job vacancy at Kiki\u2019s Chicken and Waffles, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Restaurant owner Patrick Pelley and Robert Defibaugh, the owner of a lumber and fencing company, echoed what other small business owners said in interviews with the FGA. Both reported difficulty competing with emergency pandemic unemployment payments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s plenty of jobs, but guess what, there\u2019s just nobody that wants to work because of the free money,\u201d Defibaugh said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring this entire pandemic, not only was I the owner, operator and manager, I was also the pizza maker, the sandwich maker, the bus boy, the dish washer,\u201d Pelley told the FGA. \u201cAt one point in time, it was me and one other person in the kitchen running the restaurant. That\u2019s not how this place is designed. I could not find anyone else to work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pandemic-related unemployment benefits slowed the economic recovery by incentivizing out-of-work Americans to remain unemployed, small business owners said. \u201cPeople won\u2019t return calls, they won\u2019t return texts, they don\u2019t return emails,\u201d &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-731719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}