BIDEN’S RESPONSE TO AMERICA’S JOB MARKET
Associated Press
President Joe Biden says anyone collecting unemployment who gets offered a suitable job ‘must take the job or lose their unemployment benefits.’
Some argue the generous unemployment benefits offered when the economy crashed are making it too easy for people to not return to work. Biden responded at a news conference Monday.
‘We’re going to make it clear that anyone collecting unemployment who is offered a suitable job must take the job or lose their unemployment benefits. There are a few COVID-19 related exceptions so that people aren’t forced to choose between their basic safety and a paycheck. But otherwise, that’s the law,’ Biden said.
Friday’s monthly employment report showed the recovery of America’s job market hit a pause last month as many businesses — from restaurants and hotels to factories and construction companies — struggled to find enough workers to catch up with a rapidly strengthening economic rebound. Employers added just 266,000 jobs in April, sharply lower than in March and far fewer than economists had expected.
Biden said Monday that despite a ‘lot of discussion’ about people being paid to stay home rather than work, ‘we don’t see much evidence of that.’
‘I think the people who claim Americans won’t work, even if they find a good and fair opportunity, underestimate the American people. So we’ll insist that the law is followed with respect to benefits, but we’re not going to turn our backs on our fellow Americans,’ Biden said.
Biden said the country still has eight million fewer jobs than it did when the pandemic started.
Biden’s comments came as the Treasury Department on Monday launched its $350 billion program to distribute aid to state and local governments, giving the U.S. economy an added boost after relatively modest hiring in April.
The aid is part of the president’s larger $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that became law in March.
President Biden says people offered a suitable job must take it or lose their unemployment benefits.
