Research Briefing | Aug 31, 2021

US | Pandemic unemployment benefits ending for millions

More than 11 million individuals will lose access to emergency unemployment benefits at the end of next week creating a headwind for personal income and consumer spending.

This comes as 25 states had already terminated benefits for roughly 3.5 million individuals ahead of the original American Rescue Plan deadline of Sep 6.

While states implementing an early termination argued that benefits were impeding labor supply, we only find a marginal effect. Other research confirms the limited impact of benefits on employment, but with wide uncertainty bands.

As such, it appears the expiry of benefits will weigh more on the personal income ledger of the economy than it does to support employment growth.

Back to Resource Hub

Related Services

US liberation day

Post

Initial takeaways from Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ announcement

In two or three years' time, US imports could fall by around 15% due to discounted reciprocal tariff hikes.

Find Out More

Post

What a fragile peace means for Central and Eastern Europe

Countries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have been among the most exposed to Russia's war in Ukraine and will also be impacted by the nature of any ceasefire. Our baseline assumption is for 'fragile peace' this year, with a high likelihood of renewed hostilities.

Find Out More