‘It’s Complicated’ podcast: Cut in jobless pay could shrink near-term buying power

The Georgia Department of Labor announced this week that it has paid out more than $11 billion dollars in unemployment benefits since mid-March. Those payments are a combination of the usual state unemployment insurance, as well as several types of federal pandemic relief. On July 31, the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, a $600 a week payment will end. In a response to the program’s expiration, the state issued the following statement: Critics of the federal jobless aid say it incentives…