Maine unemployment claims continue to recede

(The Center Square) – New unemployment claims in Maine ticked down slightly again last week, as the state’s pandemic-hammered economy continues to rebound.

At least 2,095 new applications for state jobless benefits were filed for the week that ended Feb. 20 – an increase of 50 claims from the previous week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s weekly report.

But the slight rise in new filings for traditional state jobless benefits was offset by a decline in new claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a federally backed program which covers workers ineligible for regular unemployment benefits.

There were 254 PUA claims during the week that ended Feb. 20, a decrease of 200 from the previous week.

Meanwhile, 16,569 continuing claims for state unemployment benefits – which are considered a barometer of the unemployment situation – were filed in the week ending Feb. 13, a decline of 705 over the previous week.

The state has distributed about $1.89 billion in jobless benefits to more than 235,200 jobless workers during the pandemic, according to the state employment agency.

The state’s jobless rate held steady at about 5% in December, according to the latest figures released by the Maine Department of Labor.

Nationally, about 730,000 new jobless claims were filed last week, an increase of about 110,000 claims from the previous week, according to the Labor Department.

Continuing claims dropped by 91,500 to about 4.5 million nationally for the week that ended Feb. 6 the labor department said.

Despite the improving labor market, more than 19 million Americans are still receiving state or federal unemployment benefits in the week ending Feb. 6.

The U.S. unemployment rate is currently 6.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, down from a peak of 14.8% in March 2020.

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