U.S. Chamber calls for end to $300-a-week jobless aid to ease labor shortage

Signage is seen on the Chamber Of Commerce Building in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York·Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday said the federal government should end the $300 weekly supplemental unemployment benefit in President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package to ease a labor shortage that limited hiring in April.

"The disappointing jobs report makes it clear that paying people not to work is dampening what should be a stronger jobs market," the Chamber's chief policy officer Neil Bradley said in a statement, adding that unfilled positions threaten to slow economic recovery.

"Based on the Chamber’s analysis, the $300 benefit results in approximately one in four recipients taking home more in unemployment than they earned working," Bradley said.

(Reporting by David Lawder)

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