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Newsletter
The Stay-at-Home Labor Market: Google Searches, Unemployment Insurance, and Public Health Orders
This article looks at the relationships between internet searches for unemployment-related terms, unemployment insurance (UI), and the public health orders issued in the U.S. during the Covid-19 pandemic. We find that Google searches for unemployment-related subjects surged before the record increase in initial UI claims, which in turn peaked before the public health orders were implemented. As of mid-April 2020, these orders covered the vast majority of the U.S. population. Since then, the rates of increase in both search activity and initial UI claims have slowed.
Briefing
How Did Pandemic UI Benefits Affect Employment Recovery in Local Industry Markets?
We analyze the employment recovery of low-wage establishments relative to the employment recovery of high-wage establishments within local labor markets, and we find a slower recovery in low-wage establishments. We associate the difference with the expanded generosity of pandemic unemployment insurance (UI) supplements, which have a larger negative effect on the job-filling rate of low-paying establishments. We use a model of labor search to translate our establishment-level observations into a disincentive effect of pandemic UI benefits at the worker level.
Journal Article
How Insured Are Workers Against Unemployment? Unemployment Insurance and the Distribution of Liquid Wealth
In this Economic Commentary, we analyze the relationship between unemployment insurance (UI) recipiency and insurance by examining the wealth distribution of workers who have been through an unemployment spell. We focus on the net liquid wealth gap between recipients and nonrecipients of UI along the income distribution of the unemployed. Using recent data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation at the individual level, we estimate that UI recipients at the bottom half of the income distribution tend to have higher median net liquid wealth than nonrecipients, putting nonrecipients ...