Brooklyn businesses say unemployment benefits keeping workers away

About two-thirds of Brooklyn’s merchants are having difficulty hiring workers as they seek to ramp up operations following the coronavirus shutdowns — and many are blaming generous federal emergency jobless benefits approved by President Biden for keeping people home, a new survey reveals.

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce poll of 200 small businesses found that 64 percent were having trouble hiring people. A significant 42 percent of respondents cited higher COVID-19 emergency jobless benefits extended through September — including the $300 weekly supplement — as discouraging people from returning to the workforce because the government checks pay as much or more than the city’s $15 minimum wage.