Are unemployment benefits causing a worker shortage? No one knows for sure.

Once considered a crucial safety net in the pandemic-fueled economic storm, enhanced unemployment benefits are now pitting the jobless who say they are still struggling to find work against businesses who argue they are now struggling to find employees.

There are plenty of anecdotal examples to back up each side. But just what is happening in the labor market -- and the effect of the contentious $300 weekly federal boost extended by Congress in the most recent March stimulus package -- remains unclear. About half of economists say they are uncertain whether the supplement is a major disincentive for lower-wage workers, according to a survey published last week by the Initiative on Global Markets at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Some 28% believe that it is, while 16% feel it is not.