Job searches reportedly spike in states ending US unemployment checks

Workers in states that are scrapping the extra $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits started searching for jobs on the day their states announced the moves, according to a new report.

On the day states said they would end the checks — which critics say are making it hard for businesses to hire workers as they struggle to recover from the pandemic — clicks for job postings spiked by 5 percent, compared to the last two weeks of April, according to a Friday report from Indeed.com. From announcement day to three days later, the states in which benefits are ending early received a 3 to 4 percent boost in job search clicks compared to the national average, according to the report. By the eighth day after the announcement, search interest had “vanished,” it said.