Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed Senate Bill 116, legislation that would address North Carolina’s labor shortage by ending federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits ahead of schedule as dozens of states already have done. The supplemental benefits are scheduled to expire in September.
NFIB State Director Gregg Thompson said, “We were really disappointed that Governor Cooper vetoed Senate Bill 116, the bipartisan bill that would have ended the federal unemployment supplement early and encouraged more people to reenter the workforce. Small businesses can’t operate at full capacity because they can’t find enough people to work. That’s making it harder for them to recover from the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.”
State-specific data is not available, but the latest NFIB Jobs Report shows 46% of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, down two points from May but still above the 48-year historical average of 22%. Click here to learn more.
