Some politicians blame the worker shortage on Americans choosing unemployment over jobs. The data tells a different story.

Four federal programs that had been helping people through the economic downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic expired at the beginning of September, including the extra $300 per week in federal unemployment compensation, extended benefits, and help for gig workers and freelancers. Data about the effects of losing these programs will begin to ripple out over the next few months, but early indicators suggest it won’t be good news for the economy. Dr. David Robison, Professor of Economics at La Salle University is on the podcast to talk about what the end of the programs mean for individual families, the broader economy, and what the numbers say about the impact on people returning to the workforce.