US Chamber of Commerce calls to end $300 unemployment benefit boost

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, about one of four recipients of unemployment collect more money from benefits than they did when they worked.

News 12 Staff

May 8, 2021, 4:40 PM

Updated 1,249 days ago

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The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is calling for an end to the $300 a week supplemental unemployment benefit.
This comes after a jobs report released Friday showed a slight increase in unemployment numbers in April.
The Chamber of Commerce says a big reason why some people are choosing to stay at home and collect unemployment rather than find a job is because, in many cases, people make more money with the $300 unemployment bump than they would working a job. 
State Sen. Phil Boyle (R-Bay Shore) says New York should consider getting rid of the supplement benefits. 
“I think New York should join those states in opting out of the additional federal benefit,” he says. “The bottom line is people are making as much, if not more, staying home than they will be going to work. Unemployment insurance is supposed to be for a temporary situation when someone is out of work and cannot find a job. Well, there are more and more jobs opening up and the business owners can’t find the workers and that is completely upsetting the system.”
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, about one of four recipients of unemployment collect more money from benefits than they did when they worked.