Majority of economists say $600 unemployment boost should be extended or increased for rest of the year

University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
(Image credit: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Republican lawmakers have cast doubt on extending the $600 per week boost to unemployment insurance during ongoing coronavirus relief bill negotiations, but economists think it should remain at least for the rest of year, a new survey shows.

The FiveThirtyEight survey, conducted in partnership with the Initiative on Global Markets at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, polled 33 economists on whether the federal benefits should continue at the same rate, increase, decrease, or lapse completely for the rest of year. A plurality think it should stay the same, and a majority support keeping it as is or increasing, while only 7 percent back getting rid of the benefits altogether.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.