Hot FM Arkansas is ending its participation in the federal unemployment program that gives workers an additional $300 a week, citing a shortage of workers.
(AP) Governor Asa Hutchinson directed the Division of Workforce Services to end the state’s participation in the program after June 26. The federally funded additional benefits had been scheduled to run through early September.
Hutchinson said businesses in retail, restaurant and other sectors are trying to return to employment levels before the coronavirus pandemic, but “employees are as scarce today as jobs were a year ago.”
“The $300 federal supplement helped thousands of Arkansans make it through this tough time, so it served a good purpose,” he said in a statement released by his office. “Now we need Arkansans back on the job so that we can get our economy back to full speed.”
Arkansas to drop out of federal pandemic unemployment programs
Ark. ending federal pandemic unemployment By Brandon Richard | May 8, 2021 at 6:50 PM CDT - Updated May 8 at 6:50 PM
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (WMC) - Arkansas is set to become the first state in the Mid-South to end its participation in federal pandemic unemployment programs.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson says the programs have outlived their usefulness and may be causing the state more harm than good.
In a letter sent Friday, Hutchinson ordered the state’s Division of Workforce Services to end Arkansas’ participation in federal pandemic unemployment programs.
The programs provide an additional $300 in weekly unemployment payments to thousands of Arkansans who lost their jobs because of the pandemic.
Arkansas joins other states rejecting $300 federal unemployment payments boost
Updated May 08, 2021;
By Andrew DeMillo | Associated Press
Arkansas is ending its participation in the federal unemployment program that gives workers an additional $300 a week, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Friday, citing a shortage of workers.
The Republican governor directed the Division of Workforce Services to end the state’s participation in the program after June 26. The federally funded additional benefits had been scheduled to run through early September.
Hutchinson said businesses in retail, restaurant and other sectors are trying to return to employment levels before the coronavirus pandemic, but “employees are as scarce today as jobs were a year ago.”
The State of Arkansas will be opting out of the federal government’s supplemental unemployment assistance program, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Friday afternoon.
The governor has directed the Division of Workforce Services to end the state’s participation in the program after June 26. The federal supplement provided an additional $300 per month to those receiving unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The programs were implemented to assist the unemployed during the pandemic when businesses were laying off employees and jobs were scarce,” Hutchinson said. “As we emerge from COVID-19, retail and service companies, restaurants, and industry are attempting to return to pre-pandemic unemployment levels, but employees are as scarce today as jobs were a year ago. The $300 federal supplement helped thousands of Arkansans make it through this tough time, so it served a good purpose. Now we need Arkansans back on the job so that we can get our economy back to full s
Send Gov. Asa Hutchinson directs the Division of Workforce Services to end Arkansas participation in the federal supplemental unemployment assistance after June 26.
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