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Why Florida is ending the extra $300 federal unemployment benefits early

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Posted at 4:59 PM, Jun 23, 2021
and last updated 2021-06-24 09:05:37-04

Some states like Florida are ending the federal unemployment benefits program early, while other states are not.

Michael Snipes, an economics professor at USF Sarasota-Manatee, tells ABC Action News it comes down to the debate of how does this help the economy versus how does this help the people.

Another question being asked is are leaders focusing on the big numbers like GDP, growth or are they focusing on the worker? Snipes says he does think taking away the extra weekly $300 will have the intended consequence.

"It’s really kind of this balancing effect. Yes, we do want people to go back into the labor force, absolutely, but we also have to ask the question...what kind of labor force are these people going into," Snipes said.

According to Snipes, Tampa is a service-based economy. Many workers left the service industry to find other work during pandemic shutdowns.

Those were the jobs eliminated during the height of the pandemic, and are now coming back.