With more than half of governors across the U.S. cutting off federal unemployment benefits for their citizens, Rick Newman joins Julie Hyman, Brian Sozzi and Myles Udland to discuss what research shows about unemployment recipients and the state of the labor force.

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: I want to bring Rick Newman in because he has been doing some reporting on the role of unemployment benefits in this whole worker shortage equation. You've been talking to people as well, Rick, about what their experiences are. And what have you been hearing from them?

RICK NEWMAN: I've been seeking out people who live in these Republican-led states, states with Republican governors who have cut off the federal benefit $300 a week. So let's say they cut that off at the beginning of July. That's, you know, in the order of $2,400 in federal aid, free money from the federal government. It doesn't cost the states anything that people in those states will not get. And it's about half of all states.

So this is anecdotal. I'm just talking to people. But I'm asking them the question, you know, these governors have characterized out-of-work people getting this benefits as people who don't want to look for a job. They'd rather just get the money. And, you know, many people find this very offensive.

I interviewed, for example, a musician in Arizona, who said, look, I used to play at bars and restaurants, and they're not back. I mean, some of them have just closed. And I've sent out tons of resumes, and nobody's hiring. And she finds it very offensive that the Republican Governor Doug Ducey has characterized people who don't have a job as people who just don't want to work.

I'm finding a bunch of people like that. A woman whose husband in Texas is a commercial real estate broker, his income goes deal by deal. And he had some things lined up for last fall, but because of uncertainty related to COVID, those deals fell through. They were relying on unemployment aid. And that got cut off, so another $2,400.

You know, these are just anecdotal examples of people. But there are a lot of people who do want to get back to work. And they're just finding it very difficult. And it's hard to have lost that federal money that was supposed to be available through the beginning of September.

MYLES UDLAND: You know, Rick, I also wonder if you're finding in your reporting any folks out there who were able to actually build a little bit of a cushion from some of this unemployment aid, which maybe was at or above their prior income level and are thus not forced-- they're able to be picky, right, as we sort of get towards a broader reopening of the economy.

RICK NEWMAN: That's a factor, too. And I think we should keep in mind, there's no single explanation for why people are not going back into these jobs. There are many explanations. And one of the explanations is, they're just not good jobs. And people feel they-- some people feel they have a little bit of a cushion, and they don't have to take those lousy jobs.

I mean, for everybody-- you know, we hear about the big national companies offering 15 bucks an hour or 17 or 18. A lot of companies are not doing that. Smaller companies and some local businesses, they can't offer $15 an hour. There are restaurants that have just closed because they cannot-- they don't have the profit margin to pay people what people feel they deserve to be paid.

So we have all kinds of mismatches in the economy right now. I mean, there's a lot of turmoil in the economy. And I think people-- a main takeaway is like I just said. There are many reasons people are not going back to work. And some of them are very logical and very good reasons. And there probably are some people who are just-- would rather get the unemployment aid because it's more than they would otherwise earn. It is probably no more than 15% of everybody getting this aid. And there are a lot of people who want to work.