Extending $600 Jobless Benefits Could Save Lives, Fed Study Says

As Congress debates extending generous unemployment benefits, a new report says that keeping certain workers away from their jobs would save thousands of lives.

The CARES Act unemployment benefits will increase U.S. unemployment by an average of 3.7 percentage points from April to December 2020, but it would also reduce cumulative death by 4.7% and save 27,000 lives, according to a working paper posted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta on its website Friday.

The extra $600 per week unemployment benefit is set to expire on Friday and Congress has yet to agree on a new stimulus package. Critics ...