Reply #6: In Texas, unemployment taxes are pretty cheap

[customerserviceguy]

compared to the places I've worked. You're right, in Texas, those taxes are not a disincentive to hire. Please believe me that they might be elsewhere.

Right now, employers are coping by having part time workers go full time (if they feel they can afford the benefits), and having full timers do a bit of overtime, which doesn't raise their benefit costs or unemployment taxes, which are capped on a fairly small wage base. We need to get more people to work, and in some places, raising the unemployment tax works against that.

RC asked what was the big deal about that, and I'm trying to provide an explanation. I'm glad to see that it's a poor excuse where you are, but it doesn't work out that way all across the country.