杰克逊小姐。-卡特里娜乡亲们说，自从9月份因为冠状病毒流行病。

这位来自哈蒂斯堡的39岁母亲曾在一家律师事务所做数据录入工作，她做到了健康需要她在家工作的问题。

她说她一周做三次面试，买了WiFi和电脑，试图让自己成为一名更强的求职者。但她一直找不到能满足每周医生预约的工作。

“每次我提交申请，他们打电话给我，我就像撞上了砖墙，”她说。

密西西比州州长泰特·里夫斯5月10日宣布，密西西比州将退出为在新冠肺炎大流行期间失业的人提供的每周300美元的联邦补助，以及其他为失业者提供长期支持的项目。

美国至少有24个共和党领导的州现在决定提前结束联邦失业福利，几个月前，联邦失业福利将于2021年9月到期。这意味着数百万人将失去支持。密西西比州是美国收入最低的最贫穷的州之一，该州的人们将是第一批失去福利的人。

人们说州长的决定意味着她目前每周491美元的支票将化为乌有。

“老实说，我很害怕，”人们说。“我就是离不开那个。”

根据密西西比州就业安全部的数据，5月初，约9万人因冠状病毒大流行相关原因领取了300美元的失业补助。

共和党人里夫斯说，他在与企业主和员工协商后，决定停止接受联邦补贴。

密西西比州就业保障部再就业援助办公室主任尔玛依娜·库克说，尽管大多数企业的产能限制和其他冠状病毒法规已经取消，但它们仍然无法完全恢复，因为它们找不到员工。

库克说:“雇主向我们寻求额外的帮助，因为他们有工作，但没有人来面试职位。”“他们没有工人来提供他们提供的服务。”

最近几周，劳工部利用社交媒体鼓励企业举报拒绝工作机会但仍在收集失业信息的求职者。该州建立了一个在线门户网站，雇主可以在那里提交申请人进行调查。

库克说，自从州政府开始推动雇主制作报告以来，报告数量激增。

Charita McCarrol是杰克逊包装公司大南方工业公司的人力资源经理。她说，她已经使用该州的门户网站进行报道，她看到许多人滥用该系统。

“你不能让人们来工作，”麦卡洛说。"在职业介绍所的世界里，这绝对是一场噩梦。"

麦卡罗尔的公司已经填补了89个职位中的69个。有时，它不能运行所有的机器，因为它没有足够的员工，或者它必须关闭一个班次。主管在运行机器，开叉车，因为找不到人来担任角色。

在弗罗伍德的半壳牡蛎屋海鲜餐厅，经理彭江雨·洛金斯说他也有过类似的经历。这家餐馆正在招聘所有的职位。

他说:“我们让人们去参加迎新会，做了2个半小时的迎新会，然后就再也不回来了。”。

像许多企业一样，半壳公司开始了一项激励计划，提供300美元的签约奖金，三个月后再提供300美元。

许多地方正在采取创造性的方法来吸引员工。

米高梅度假村国际集团和比洛西的博里瓦吉度假村和赌场举办了一场招聘会，以冰雕和现场舞蹈演员为特色。虾篮连锁餐厅正在抽奖出售一辆新车。杰克逊餐馆老板杰夫·古德用游戏、气球和冰淇淋举办了一场招聘嘉年华。

雇主说，工人们的要求比大流行前要高。

沙吉比洛西海滩总经理马特罗伯茨(Matt Roberts)表示，该餐厅人员配备齐全，因为它将每个全职职位的工资提高到保证的每小时15美元，并增加了医疗、视力和牙科福利。比洛克西餐厅是沙吉的五个地点之一，有大约90名员工。

罗伯茨说:“很多沿海餐馆在一周的某些日子不得不关门，因为他们没有足够的员工想要得到报酬，你知道，7.25美元一小时在厨房做饭。”。

他说他希望员工知道他们是有价值的。

“有点同理心，知道吗?”罗伯茨说。“我们只是想让员工有一个可承受的工资，他们不仅可以照顾自己，还可以照顾家人。”

人们说她失去了在6月12日截止日期前找到工作的希望。像给她11岁的儿子买衣服这样的任务已经成为压力的来源。

“我不得不去教堂求他们帮忙，”她说。“真尴尬，我工作了一辈子，现在要找人帮忙，我又不是那种人。”

人们说，有一种误解，认为大流行后仍处于失业状态的人是懒惰的，他们不想工作。她说对她来说不是这样。

“我现在只是被困在一块石头和一个坚硬的地方之间，”人们说。“感觉没办法让我解脱。”

Mississippi reckons with ending pay boost for the unemployed

JACKSON, Miss. -- Katrina Folks says she has tried everything she can think of to find work since losing her job in September because of thecoronaviruspandemic.

The 39-year-old mother from Hattiesburg used to do data entry at a law firm, and she hashealthissues that require her to work from home.

She said she has been doing three interviews a week and bought WiFi and a computer to try to make herself a stronger job candidate. But she hasn't been able to find work that will accommodate her weekly doctor’s appointments.

“Every time I put in an application and they call me, I seem to hit a brick wall,” she said.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced May 10 that Mississippi will opt out of the $300-a-week federal supplement for people who lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other programs that offered extended support for the unemployed.

At least 24 Republican-led states in the U.S. have now decided to end federal unemployment benefits early, months before they were set to expire in September 2021. That means millions of people will lose support. People in Mississippi, one of the poorest states in the country with the lowest-paying jobs, will be among the first to lose benefits.

Folks said the governor's decision means her current weekly check of $491 will go down to nothing.

“I’m terrified, to be honest,” Folks said. “I just can’t live off of that.”

About 90,000 people were receiving the $300 unemployment supplement for reasons related to the coronavirus pandemic at the start of May, according to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.

Reeves, a Republican, said he made the decision to stop accepting the federal supplement after consulting with business owners and employees.

Even though most capacity restrictions and other coronavirus regulations have been lifted for businesses, they still aren't able to recover fully because they can't find employees, said Erma Cook, director of the office of re-employment assistance at Mississippi Department of Employment Security.

“Employers are reaching out to us asking for additional assistance because they have work available, but they did not have individuals coming in to interview for positions,” Cook said. "They don’t have the workers to provide the service that they offer."

The department has taken to social media in recent weeks to encourage businesses to report applicants who refuse job offers while still collecting unemployment. The state set up an online portal where employers can submit applicants for investigation.

Cook says reports have surged since the state began pushing employers to make them.

Charita McCarrol is human resources manager at Great Southern Industries, a packaging company in Jackson. She said she has used the state's portal to make reports and she sees a lot of people abusing the system.

“You can’t get people to come to work," McCarrol said. “It has been an absolute nightmare in the world of staffing agencies."

McCarrol's company has about 69 of its 89 positions filled. Sometimes, it can't run all of its machines because it doesn't have enough employees, or it has to shut down a shift. Supervisors are running machines and driving forklifts because they can't find people to fill the roles.

At the Half Shell Oyster House seafood restaurant in Flowood, manager Jalen Loggins said he has had similar experiences. The restaurant is hiring for all positions.

“We’ve had people show up to orientation, do the 2 1/2 hour orientation, and then never show back up," he said.

Like many businesses, Half Shell started an incentive program, offering a $300 sign-on bonus and another $300 after three months.

Many places are taking creative approaches to attract employees.

MGM Resorts International and Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi held a job fair featuring ice sculptures and live dancers. The Shrimp Basket restaurant chain is raffling off a new car. Jackson restaurant owner Jeff Good held a hiring carnival with games, balloons and ice cream.

Workers are demanding more than they were before the pandemic, employers say.

Matt Roberts, general manager at Shaggy’s Biloxi Beach, said the restaurant is fully staffed since it raised pay to a guaranteed $15 an hour for every full-time position, adding medical, vision and dental benefits. The Biloxi restaurant is one of five Shaggy's locations and has about 90 employees.

“There’s a lot of coast restaurants that are having to close on certain days of the week because they don’t have enough employees that want to get paid, you know, $7.25 an hour to cook in the kitchen,” Roberts said.

He said he wants employees to know they are valued.

“Have a little empathy, you know?" Roberts said. "We just want to make it so employees have a livable wage where they not only just take care of themselves, they can take care of their families."

Folks said she's losing hope of finding a job before the June 12 deadline. Tasks like buying clothes for her 11-year-old son have become a source of stress.

"I’m literally having to go to churches and beg them to help," she said. “It's embarrassing, I’ve worked my whole life, and now I have to ask people for help, and I’m not one to do that.”

Folks said there's a misconception that people still on unemployment from the pandemic are lazy, and that they don't want to work. She said that's not true for her.

“I’m just stuck between a rock and a hard place right now," Folks said. "It feels like there's no way to get me out of it."