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What you described is a poor business decision. Companies that make poor decisions tend to go out of business. I would also say that job fills are lagging enou

What you described is a poor business decision. Companies that make poor decisions tend to go out of business. I would also say that job fills are lagging enough not to have conclusive data yet. While you mention that jobs weren't filled in states ending benefits moreso than those that did, there are some articles out there that argue against that claim: https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/experiment-over-labor-market-normalizing-republican-states-remains-broken-blue-states https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/experiment-over-labor-mark... The above looks more at jobless claims and unemployment rates than total jobs filled. The US data, which is limited for me to perform eda since I'm on mobile, appears to be largely unchanged for states when comparing to a year ago: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.t03.htm https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.t03.htm From that we can maybe say that, although not encouraging job fills, at least ending the federal part of the unemployment saves tax dollars. But I also don't think that is the full story. Although the extra $300/week ended in some states, the existing state money was still there, and that can go a long way to living a life of leisure when you're only other expenses are food and housing (let's not forget that there was also an eviction moratorium/no doc 12 month forbearance so the housing costs, even without $300 extra, are still subsidized by tax payers). Even when the eviction moratorium ends, most evictions have to go through the courts which are going to be slow due to the amount of cases that will be filed. And none of this touches on the stickiness of wages (hence businesses trying to avoid) and what that means for someone that just got a year+ of paid vacation while retaining their prior annual income or even exceeding it. I don't think we will have a complete picture for awhile.

greedo 5y ago
Ha. If you think unemployment goes a long way to "living a life of leisure" you're nuts. Not everyone is renting, so if you have a mortgage and you're on unemployment, it's just a matter of time til you get foreclosed on. Or your car repo'd. Also, the franchise I mentioned was McDonalds, and throughout the region, this was the common way of "coping" with min wage increases.
- hellojesus 5y ago
  Mortgages were automatically given 12 months of forbearance, and after the forbearance period ends likely Fannie Mae will allow modifications for up to 720 dpd. We saw it happen after 08, and this modifications were still in place in 2019 when I left the industry. "Life of leisure" wasn't a comment on buying power, rather it was a comment on free time. If housing payments are a non-issue, all that is left is food and utilities. Unemployment can go a long way to covering those, often times exceeding those costs. The rest of your time is available for rest or self improvement to push yourself into a better position for when you're ready to re-enter the market. McDonald's may be a large franchise, but that doesn't mean they make great decisions. We see large businesses go under all the time. Too many bad decisions, changes in the market, etc. will have them going to the same end. Edit: McDonald's response to wage increases isn't uncommon. Many business panic and reduce labor costs immediately so they can avoid passing the costs on to the customer. We see this in many metros, such as Seattle. For the workers that get to stick around, they have a better quality of life. But those workers that weren't providing value in excess to the new wage requirements are cut and have a terribly difficult time finding a new position.

greedo 5y ago

Ha. If you think unemployment goes a long way to "living a life of leisure" you're nuts. Not everyone is renting, so if you have a mortgage and you're on unemployment, it's just a matter of time til you get foreclosed on. Or your car repo'd. Also, the franchise I mentioned was McDonalds, and throughout the region, this was the common way of "coping" with min wage increases.

hellojesus 5y ago
Mortgages were automatically given 12 months of forbearance, and after the forbearance period ends likely Fannie Mae will allow modifications for up to 720 dpd. We saw it happen after 08, and this modifications were still in place in 2019 when I left the industry. "Life of leisure" wasn't a comment on buying power, rather it was a comment on free time. If housing payments are a non-issue, all that is left is food and utilities. Unemployment can go a long way to covering those, often times exceeding those costs. The rest of your time is available for rest or self improvement to push yourself into a better position for when you're ready to re-enter the market. McDonald's may be a large franchise, but that doesn't mean they make great decisions. We see large businesses go under all the time. Too many bad decisions, changes in the market, etc. will have them going to the same end. Edit: McDonald's response to wage increases isn't uncommon. Many business panic and reduce labor costs immediately so they can avoid passing the costs on to the customer. We see this in many metros, such as Seattle. For the workers that get to stick around, they have a better quality of life. But those workers that weren't providing value in excess to the new wage requirements are cut and have a terribly difficult time finding a new position.