US state of S. Carolina ends ‘dangerous’ federal jobless program amid labor shortage

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has called for an end to the federal unemployment benefit programs related to the pandemic by the end of June this year.

The Republican governor of the southeastern US state announced the order in a bid to help address workforce shortages in the state, which he blamed on federal unemployment benefits.

“South Carolina’s businesses have borne the brunt of the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he wrote in a letter to the head of state’s employment and workforce department.

“Those businesses that have survived — both large and small, and including those in the hospitality, tourism, manufacturing, and health care sectors — now face an unprecedented labor shortage.”

McMaster said the additional unemployment benefits had “turned into a dangerous federal entitlement,” putting the blame on the Biden administration for not realizing its effects on the state.

“These federal entitlements pose a clear and present danger to the health of our State’s businesses and to our economy,” he noted.

“Since the Biden administration and Congress appear to have little to no comprehension of the damage being done and no appetite to terminate the federal payments, the State of South Carolina must take action.”

The decision came two days after Montana Governor Greg Gianfort made the same decision in his state.

The Republican governors of both states say the jobless programs are deterring people from returning to the workforce, causing creating labor shortages.

According to a recent report, millions of Americans are living in dire conditions as some US states are too overwhelmed to tackle their immense backlogs of unemployment application.

According to a projection by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will take the US economy until 2030 to restore its jobs lost to the pandemic, and return the unemployment rate to pre-COVID levels.

Meanwhile, Montana and South Carolina are the first two states to end participation in the federal jobless benefits, which Congress passed last year when the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the national economy and destroyed jobs market.

Over 108,000 South Carolina residents received unemployment benefits last week for an average of $230, according to the state's DEW website. The state's March unemployment rate was at 5.1%, down from 11.5% in April and May of 2020.

Dan Ellzey, director of South Carolina's Department of Employment and Workforce, has noted that the hotel and food service industries in the state are facing employee shortages that threaten their sustainability.

The state has so far recorded over 583,000 cases of the coronavirus besides accounting for close to 9,600 deaths from the deadly virus.

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