CEO of payroll provider Paychex sees hiring rates picking up in September

Marty Mucci, CEO of payroll provider Paychex, said Tuesday he expects the various factors weighing on the job market to abate before the fourth quarter.

“I think we kind of see this all coming together around the September time frame, and I think that will really open up the market to allow people to be able to hire a little bit easier,” he said in an interview on CNBC’s “Mad Money.”

As the U.S. economy continues to recover from mass layoffs during Covid-19 lockdowns, a debate has grown about whether federal unemployment benefits have deterred those without jobs from seeking work.

Some states have ended the $300 weekly federal payouts. Gov. Mike Parson of Missouri, one of the first four states to end the benefits, said the federal program has “worsened the workforce issues we are facing,” The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The New York Times reported the same day, however, that cutting the federal benefits has not spurred hiring in Missouri.

Mucci said the pace of hiring cannot be blamed on just one thing.

“What we’re hearing from our clients is really it’s a combination of many things that [are] making it tough to hire,” he said.

Mucci said more Americans feel financially secure through the summer, thanks in part to stimulus payments that went out to most taxpayers and to the strong showing in the stock market. Vaccination rates and concerns about health safety are also playing a role, he added.

Another challenge for families is that day care centers and schools are not operating at normal levels, Mucci noted.

“I think people are saying right now there [are] all those concerns I mentioned, and when you balance it out I think they’re waiting,” Mucci said. “They’re going to kind of do a little bit of wait and see, and then I think [hiring will] start to pick up again in September.”