Maine’s new jobless claims continue to track toward pre-pandemic levels

(The Center Square) – New unemployment claims in Maine ticked down again last week, as a new federal pandemic relief package promised to buoy thousands of jobless workers in the state.

At least 1,394 new applications for state jobless benefits were filed for the week that ended March 6 – a decrease of 283 claims from the previous week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s weekly report.

There were 126 new claims last week for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a federally backed program that covers workers ineligible for traditional unemployment benefits. That’s a drop of 74 from the previous week.

Meanwhile, 15,813 continuing claims for state unemployment benefits – which lag behind a week but are viewed as a barometer of the unemployment situation – were filed in the week ending Feb. 27, a decline of 1,426 over the previous week.

The state has distributed more than $1.9 billion in jobless benefits to at least 350,250 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 712,000 new jobless claims were filed last week, a decrease of about 42,000 claims from the previous week, according to the Labor Department.

Continuing claims dropped by 193,000 to about 4.1 million nationally for the week that ended Feb. 27 the labor department said.

Despite the gradually improving labor market, more than 20.1 million Americans were still receiving state or federal unemployment benefits in the week ending Feb. 20.

This week, Congress approved President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package that will extend unemployment benefits until September and provide $300 per week to jobless beneficiaries. Biden is expected to sign the bill on Friday.

The federal unemployment programs are set to expire on March 14, which would have left more than 11 million out-of-work Americans without federal financial assistance.

“This legislation is about giving the backbone of this nation – the essential workers, the working people who built this country, the people who keep this country going – a fighting chance,” Biden said in remarks on Wednesday. “I look forward to signing it.”

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