Getting businesses more job applicants will be the goal of Wisconsin Republicans when they caucus this week in Madison.
The April jobs report released last week showed non-farm payrolls increase by only 266,000, just over a quarter of the one million new jobs that were expected. The unemployment rate crept up to 6.1 percent when it was expected to trickle down to 5.8 percent. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce greeted the jobs report with a rebuke of the $300 per week federal jobless benefit that it alleges is rewarding people to stay at home. Forbes Magazine estimates that Americans are being paid the equivalent of $17.17 to stay at home.
States like Montana and South Carolina are looking to withdraw from the federal program by the end of June, citing the impact the jobless benefit has had on hiring. Rep. Joel Kitchens says reinstating the requirement that people must be actively looking for a job to receive a benefit is just part of what needs to be done.
Kitchens says they need to look at the options when it comes to following the path of other states who have already pulled out of the federal jobless aid program. He adds that it is crucial people get back to work for the sake of the local economy.
The impact of child care on the employment situation in the state is something Kitchens believes will also have to be addressed as a new biennial budget is formed.
