As Politico reports, a lot of workers particularly in the food service industry can nearly double their weekly checks if they stay unemployed.
Why?
The new unemployment benefits passed in the coronavirus spending bill adds $600 a week to existing benefits.
Here in Texas, the average unemployment benefit is $246 per week. So with the added $600 a week, that comes to $846 a week.
You can receive benefits up to 26 weeks but the federal government has now expanded that adding another 13 weeks for a maximum total of 39 weeks.
In some states, the average unemployment benefits now tops a $1,000 a week.
Politico’s Ian Kullgren writes:
One recipient of a Paycheck Protection loan is Christian Ochsendorf, who owns several Dunn Brothers Coffee shops in the Minneapolis area. Ochsendorf says he’s been able to persuade only 40 percent of his furloughed workers to return. In Minnesota, the $600 sweetener raises the average weekly unemployment benefit above $1,000 a week. In 2019, the average weekly wage for full-time food service workers was $548.
“They’re getting paid more on unemployment than they would if they were actually working,” Ochsendorf said.
It’s the same story in Ohio, where workers can now receive $963 a week on unemployment, or slightly more than the average weekly wage. Full-time restaurant workers in the state earn, on average, less than $500.
“Heck, if they’re making more money sitting at home … I’m fearful that some may not want to come back,” said Adam Rammel, the co-owner of Brewfontaine, a bar and restaurant in Bellefontaine, Ohio.
So Lindsey Graham is correct.