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FILE PHOTO: People line up outside a newly reopened career center for in-person appointments in Louisville, U.S., April 15, 2021. REUTERS/Amira Karaoud/File Photo
The 25 U.S. states calling an early halt to pandemic-related federal unemployment benefits have recovered more of the jobs lost during the crisis than other states, possibly limiting how much of a dent ending the weekly $300 payments will make in the national battle to fill record job vacancies.
Republicans have taken aim at the enhanced benefits, which were first approved by Congress in a massive relief package last year and later extended, arguing they discourage people from returning to work and are no longer needed given the easing pandemic. Four Republican-led states are ending the payments as of Saturday, with 21 others following suit through early July.
Prague will send Warsaw a draft proposal next week to kickstart talks on ending a row over an open-pit coal mine near its border with Poland, a Czech deputy environment minister said.
Some 1,065 members of two Norwegian labour unions could go on strike on June 17 if wage talks fail, hitting oil exploration and other drilling services, the unions said on Friday.