Long term federal unemployment benefits are going to expire, $25 billion saved so Congress can make interest payments.
How will these workers fare? One place to look for answers is North Carolina. Last February, at the behest of the business community, Republican Governor Pat McCrory signed a bill cutting the amount and duration of state jobless benefits, even though North Carolina’s unemployment rate ranked among the highest in the country.
The unemployment rate dropped and total employment increased. Which effect dominates? The experiment in North Carolina does not say, both things happened and the data cannot be sorted out. So the intent is to try the experiment on a nation wide scale. In this case, the states to watch are Texas vs California. My prediction is that Texas will see faster employment growth, and more in migration. California the opposite.
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