Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis
June 18, 2020
Abstract
1. The unemployment crisis is severe.
2. Unemployment insurance has played a critical role both for the workers who have lost their jobs and for the economy as a whole.
3. Unemployment insurance has both positive and negative effects on labor supply and it can have positive effects on labor market matches.
4. Jobs are currently constrained primarily by lack of demand by employers not lack of supply by people interested and willing to work.
5. Expanded unemployment insurance should continue and adjust with changes in the
unemployment rate.
6. The abrupt expiration of any form of expanded unemployment insurance at the end of July would create problems both for those workers directly affected and for the economy as a whole, reducing GDP by about 2½ percent in the second half of this year—more than a typical year’s worth of economic growth.
7. The unemployment insurance system had major shortcomings before the COVID crisis
and it should be permanently reformed.
8. Much more is needed to protect jobs, create jobs and foster economic recovery.
Citation
Furman, Jason. "The Unemployment Pandemic: Addressing America’s Jobs Crisis." Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, June 18, 2020.