As lawmakers on Capitol Hill squabble over the terms of an additional coronavirus relief package, new research shows that there are more Americans claiming unemployment benefits than are actually unemployed. “In such cases, the beneficiary is not technically unemployed, as there is no active job search going on. Republicans were not keen to renew the measure because they claimed it eliminated an incentive for individuals to seek out new employment opportunities since, in some cases, unemployment benefits were higher than what a person would otherwise earn. Many states have also run through a $300 weekly unemployment payment authorized by the Trump administration in August. The unemployment rate in September fell to 7.9% as the U.S. economy added 661,000 jobs, but the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits last week increased by the largest amount in two months, to 898,000.

Source: Fox News October 16, 2020 19:41 UTC