4 states offer cash bonuses to go back to work: Here's how the headlines can affect your money

Markets have a mixed week. The bitcoin roller coaster continues. Plus, some states are giving people cash bonuses to return to work. Here's how the news could affect your money.

The three major indexes were mixed Friday: The Dow rose 0.4%, the Nasdaq dropped 0.5%, and the S&P lost less than 0.1%. The Dow and S&P were both down for the week, falling 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively. The Nasdaq was up 0.3%. Markets traded higher Monday morning.

Bitcoin was trading above $38,000 Monday morning, recovering some of the losses it incurred Sunday when its value dropped to $32,000. (It peaked at $65,000 in April.)

The volatility was a continuation of a turbulent trading week for cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin's value fell to a low of about $30,000 Wednesday but was back up to $40,000 Friday before warnings from the Chinese government sent it tumbling again.

^{Video by Helen Zhao}

Other cryptocoins were also up Monday. Ether, the world's second most popular cryptocurrency, rose more than 33% to hit $2,400.

The federal government has been adding an $300 to weekly unemployment checks since March as part of the American Rescue Plan. That extra benefit is set to expire in September. At least 22 states are cutting off the federal government's enhanced unemployment benefits several months before they expire in an attempt to address a perceived labor shortage.

Four of those states — Arizona, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma — are incentivizing unemployed residents to accept new jobs by giving them cash bonuses.

Arizona's Back to Work program offers one-time $1,000 payments to unemployment recipients who accept part-time jobs and $2,000 to those who take full-time work. New Hampshire's Summer Stipend Program pays $500 for part-timers and $1,000 for full-timers, and Montana and Oklahoma are paying $1,200 to people who accept full-time work.

^{Video by Stephen Parkhurst}

One of the most popular videos in YouTube history — "Charlie bit my finger" — auctioned for $760,999 over the weekend as an NFT, or nonfungible token. An NFT is a digital asset, such as a short video clip, that uses blockchain technology (the stuff inside bitcoin that keeps track of its ownership history) to ensure that each NFT is verifiably unique and indivisible. In essence, it's a piece of internet content with a certificate of authenticity.

"Charlie bit my finger" has amassed more than 883.5 million views since it debuted on YouTube in 2007, but will soon be removed from the video-sharing platform now that it's sold at auction.

Although the daily news can have an impact on your wallet, remember to take a long-term outlook when it comes to decisions on spending, saving, and investing.

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