Republicans, in response, say that Democrats have done nothing but make unemployment and poverty more comfortable, while overseeing scant job growth. They argue that what they see as overly generous government support only encourages dependency and that a thinner safety net would actually be more effective, pointing to North Carolina’s falling jobless rate as prime evidence.

“Employers were telling me they had vacant jobs, but people would say, ‘Hold that job until my unemployment benefits end.' ” said Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican who is the prime mover behind the policy. “I heard that time and time again. Now, employers are telling us that people are coming in and filling out applications to accept jobs, not to meet the requirements of unemployment.”

Nonpartisan economists said it was difficult to definitively show the impact of the change to the unemployment insurance program on the state’s labor market. Employment increased from June through November by more than 22,000 people (reaching a total of over 4.3 million). But for every worker who found a job, more than two dropped out of the labor force entirely, according to the latest survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which recorded a decline of over 50,000 from June through November.

It is hard to separate the effects of the unemployment cutbacks from overall changes in the regional and national economy.

“We don’t have enough data to know what is happening for sure,” said Mark Vitner, who studies the regional economy for Wells Fargo.

He said it was clear, though, that some of the unemployed were prodded back to work. “If someone had been receiving unemployment benefits for a long enough time, odds are they exhausted their savings, and they’re probably going to go ahead and take a job they wouldn’t have been taking previously,” he said.

Nationally, economists expect the economy to respond much as North Carolina’s has. The unemployment rate, currently at 6.7 percent, is likely to fall further, both as the number of discouraged workers rises and as more unemployed workers accept positions. Michael Feroli of JPMorgan Chase has estimated that the loss of extended benefits might lead to a 0.25 to 0.5 percentage-point drop in the unemployment rate.