Third Stimulus Check: Less People Apply For Jobs Because Of $1,400 Payments

Businesses across the U.S. are struggling to fill jobs as fewer Americans apply after receiving a third round of stimulus checks.

Robert Walker, owner of family entertainment center Apex Entertainment in Marlborough, Mass., said some potential workers have called in to rescind their applications after getting the $1,400 stimulus payments from the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan.

“It’s crazy,” Walker told Boston Herald on Monday. “People in my circle need people to apply. We’re ready to get things going and our business is starting to take off.”

Apex Entertainment is set to hold a job fair on April 3 to fill at least 1,000 job slots in the coming year. The fair is set to take place in Marlborough from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The jobs include hotel positions in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

“Applications, interviews and hiring on the spot,” the fair touted.

President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan, which was signed into law on March 11, provides most single Americans with $1,400 payments and married couples filing jointly with $2,800 checks. It also includes an extension of the government’s $300 weekly unemployment benefits through Sept. 6.

The bill has previously faced criticism from Republicans who say the extra benefits created a disincentive for people to find work.

The news comes after the IRS announced that it would send a second wave of the $1,400 payments to bank accounts on Wednesday.

The Treasury Department also revealed that it began processing the checks Friday, which means some recipients may see the money reflected in their bank accounts earlier.

The second batch of stimulus aid would also include a “large number” of paper checks and Economic Impact Payment (EIP) cards, according to the Treasury Department, IRS and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service.

The agencies did not clarify how many checks would be included in the additional round of disbursement. The first round of payments went to approximately 90 million payments, reaching more than half of American households eligible to receive the $1,400 aid.

Americans who fail to receive their stimulus payments by direct deposit on March 24 should be on the lookout for a mailed check or an EIP cards, the IRS said.