Unemployment Insurance Withdrawal

RePEc Short ID: ppe260
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2216-110X

Albert, Sarah; Lofton, Olivia; Petrosky-Nadeau, Nicolas; Valletta, Robert G.

Journal Article

Unemployment Insurance Withdrawal

Abstract: Unemployment insurance benefits were expanded substantially to help overcome the pandemic labor market shock in early 2020. However, improved labor market conditions in early 2021 prompted many states to withdraw from the enhanced unemployment benefits programs several months before the federal program was scheduled to end in early September. A comparison of states that ended enhanced benefits early with those that maintained them suggests that the withdrawal is associated with a small pickup in employer hiring, consistent with prior studies that found the unemployment benefit expansions had modest effects.

Keywords: covid19; unemployment insurance; UI benefits; labor market conditions;