The disappointing April jobs report prompted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday to call for an end to the $300 federal bonus in weekly unemployment checks, suggesting it’s discouraging the unemployed from taking new jobs.
The economy added just 266,000 jobs last month, well below the 995,000 economists had forecast, according to their median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
“The disappointing report makes it clear that paying people not to work is dampening what should be a stronger jobs market,” Neil Bradley, chamber executive vice president, said in a statement. “One step policymakers should take now is ending the $300 weekly supplemental unemployment benefit.”
Bradley added that a chamber analysis found the bonus means 1 in 4 unemployment recipients take home more in unemployment than they did working.