NFIB State Director Dawn Starns McVea today called on Gov. Tate Reeves to end Mississippi’s participation in federal COVID-19 supplemental unemployment assistance.
“When the pandemic began a little over a year ago, businesses throughout the state had to scale back or, in some cases, close altogether, and that put a lot of people out of work. Congress responded by subsidizing state unemployment payments, and while that helped a lot of families get through the COVID-19 crisis, it’s having the unintended side effect now of discouraging some people from returning to the workplace.
“Mississippi’s economy is getting stronger, but employers say they aren’t getting enough applicants, and that labor shortage is affecting customer service.
“NFIB’s jobs report for April shows a record 44% of small business owners nationwide have job openings they can’t fill. Our hope is that ending the federal supplement will encourage more people to reenter the workforce.”
