One of the biggest problems for companies in the accounts receivable management industry in recent months has been finding qualified applicants and candidates who are willing to work. Companies have reported declines in the number of applicants, the number of individuals who show up for interviews, and the number of individuals who make it through training and actually start working. Many in the industry were looking at the time when additional unemployment benefits expired as when it would hopefully become easier to find workers, but a published report reveals that workers in states where those benefits have ended are not coming back to work as quickly as everyone had hoped.
Job searches in 12 states that ended additional unemployment benefits — to help individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic — is lower than the national average, according to data released by Indeed, a jobs site. In the four states that ended additional benefits on June 12 — Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi, and Missouri — job searches were 4% below the national average. In the eight states that ended the benefits a week later — Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming — the job search rate was 1% below the national average.
“You’d think they’d be searching more,” said AnnElizabeth Konkel, an economist with Indeed. “At least right now, this does push back on the idea that federal unemployment benefits are the main reason there are labor market frictions.”
While admitting that the trend could shift in the coming weeks, it appears, at least for now, that the additional benefits may not have been what was keeping individuals from looking for work.
The United States did add 850,000 new jobs in June, which was better than what economists were predicting, even though the unemployment rate also increased, according to data released by the Labor Department
