AUSTIN, Texas — On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott opted out of future COVID-19 related federal unemployment compensation, effective June 26. The U.S. Department of Labor was notified per protocol.

This action would cease all $300 weekly payments received as unemployment supplements from the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program.

RELATED: Letter urges Gov. Abbott to opt Texas out of weekly federal unemployment benefits

Abbott attributes his decision to two reasons: to push Texans to gain employment, given the uptick in job openings with decent pay and to stop the influx of fraudulent unemployment claims.

“According to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), the number of job openings in Texas is almost identical to the number of Texans who are receiving unemployment benefits. That assessment does not include the voluminous jobs that typically are not listed, like construction and restaurant jobs. In fact, there are nearly 60 percent more jobs open (and listed) in Texas today than there was in February 2020, the month before the Pandemic hit Texas,” says Gov. Abbott.

Statistics from TWC indicate almost 45% of jobs listed pay more than $15.50 per hour, whereas, about 76% offer greater than $11.50 per hour.

Minimum wage is to be expected in only 2% of posted jobs.

In a press release from Abbott’s office in relation to fraudulent unemployment claims, it says in part, “TWC estimates that nearly 18 percent of all claims for unemployment benefits during the pandemic are confirmed or suspected to be fraudulent, which totals more than 800,000 claims, worth as much as $10.4 billion, if all claims had been paid.”