Florida cuts off $300 weekly pandemic unemployment benefits

Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) has announced that it plans to end weekly pandemic unemployment benefits on June 26.

The DEO issued a statement on Monday about its plans, saying the state added 18,000 private sector jobs in April, with more than 460,000 job postings online for unemployed workers. 

Beginning June 26, 2021, @FLDEO will no longer participate in providing the $300 Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefits in addition to Reemployment Assistance weekly benefits. Read more: https://t.co/JhCeIp8NIc pic.twitter.com/rY7p3Wg2vQ

— Florida DEO (@FLDEO) May 24, 2021

The statement added that Florida has added nearly 800,000 private sector jobs since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

DEO Secretary Dane Eagle thanked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for helping the state’s economy to have “the strongest economic conditions in the nation.” 

“Florida’s employers are also seeing employment growth, as more Floridians, including some who completely left the workforce, are now eagerly reentering the workforce. Transitioning away from this benefit will help meet the demands of small and large businesses who are ready to hire and expand their workforce,” Eagle said in the statement. 

Many Florida business leaders quickly applauded the new motion, saying it’s time for the state to bounce back from its pre-COVID days.

“Florida’s decision to end the weekly supplemental FPUC payments will greatly help in getting Floridians to return to work. Florida is facing a labor shortage that is hurting not only small businesses but industries throughout the state that help drive our economy in a big way,” Associated Industries of Florida Senior Vice President of Federal and State Affairs Brewster Bevis said in the statement. “It is significant that Governor DeSantis and our state are taking action, just like this one, to help our economy return to pre-pandemic levels of success and end the labor shortage.”

The move by Florida allows it to join other GOP-led states that have ended their pandemic unemployment benefits.

CNN reported that DeSantis is not ending unemployment benefits for the self-employed and for those who have run out of regular state benefit funds.

The move comes after a recent study found that the extra $300 in benefits has an extremely small influence on unemployed people returning to the workforce.

The data suggested that if seven of every 28 unemployed people received a job offer, just one of them would turn it down because they were receiving an extra $300 a week.