Effective June 26, unemployed Texans will no longer be eligible to receive the $300 weekly unemployment supplement from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, as Gov. Greg Abbott informed the U.S. Department of Labor on May 17 that Texas would be opting out of further federal unemployment compensation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to a May 17 news release, Abbott decided to opt out of the program due to the the vast number of well-paying jobs that are available statewide. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, nearly 45% of posted jobs offer wages that are greater than $15.50 per hour and approximately 76% pay more than $11.50 per hour; only 2% of posted jobs pay around the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
"The Texas economy is booming and employers are hiring in communities throughout the state," Abbott said in a statement. "According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the number of job openings in Texas is almost identical to the number of Texans who are receiving unemployment benefits. That assessment does not include the voluminous jobs that typically are not listed, like construction and restaurant jobs. In fact, there are nearly 60% more jobs open—and listed—in Texas today than there was in February 2020, the month before the pandemic hit Texas."
Additionally, the news release stated that Abbott's decision was also necessary due to the high number of fraudulent unemployment claims that are being filed. According to the TWC, nearly 18% of all claims for unemployment benefits during the pandemic are confirmed or suspected to be fraudulent, which totals more than 800,000 claims worth as much as $10.4 billion, if all claims had been paid.
