Georgia’s unemployment rate has dropped to 4.1%, compared with 12.5% in April 2020. | Unsplash/Matthew Henry
Georgia’s unemployment rate has dropped to 4.1%, compared with 12.5% in April 2020. | Unsplash/Matthew Henry
Georgia and South Carolina have cut federal unemployment benefits and both states are reporting lower unemployment rates as well.
The Georgia Department of Labor (DOL) announced the state was ending its participation in the $300 weekly federal pandemic unemployment compensation program on June 26. The state has returned to its pre-COVID-19 unemployment operations and claimants can collect from $55 to $365 in state unemployment benefits for up to 26 weeks.
In the meantime, rates of unemployment in the state have steadily dropped since last year. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Georgia’s current unemployment rate is 4.1%, compared with 12.5% unemployment in April 2020, the peak unemployment rate during the pandemic.
South Carolina similarly ended its participation in the program June 30, according to a release from the South Carolina Governor's Office. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that South Carolina’s current unemployment rate is 4.6%, down significantly from the state's jobless rate of 11.5% last April 2020 during the outset of the pandemic.
South Carolina unemployment benefit claimants can collect from $42 a week to $326 a week for up to 20 weeks, according to the South Carolina Department of Labor.
Rachel Greszler, research fellow in economics, budget and entitlements for the Heritage Foundation, posted an article in support of eliminating federal unemployment bonus subsidies.
“It’s time for the federal government to stop stimulating demand and restricting supply by pumping more deficit-financed spending into the economy and by proposing trillions of dollars in new government programs," Greszler wrote. "Employers already face high costs from government taxes and regulations. They don’t also need the government competing with them. Policymakers should end the federal unemployment insurance bonus payments now.”
Twenty-five states across the nation have set a date to end their state's participation in the federal supplemental unemployment benefits program, all of them led by Republican governors or legislatures, according to Multistate.
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