Maine jobless claims continue to ease
(The Center Square) – First-time unemployment claims in Maine dropped again last week, but the decline was offset by a slight increase in those seeking federal jobless benefits.
At least 2,580 unemployment claims were filed for the week that ended Jan. 30, a decline of 265 claims over the previous week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s weekly jobless claims report.
Another 487 new claims were filed for federally backed Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, an increase of 95 over the previous week, the federal agency said.
Meanwhile,17,246 continuing claims – which are viewed as a barometer of the unemployment situation – were filed in the week ending Jan. 23, declining by 478 over the previous week.
Nationally, about 779,000 new jobless claims were filed last week, a drop of about 33,000 claims from the previous week, according to the Labor Department.
Continuing claims dropped by 193,000 to about 4.5 million nationally for the week that ended Jan. 23, the labor department said.
Despite the improving labor market, more than 17.8 million people are still receiving state or federal unemployment benefits in the previous week.
Many jobless workers are benefitting from an extra $300-a-week from federal unemployment programs that were extended for another 11 weeks by the latest COVID-19 relief package.
The government-funded programs provide federal jobless benefits for self-employed, gig workers and others who do not qualify for traditional state unemployment programs.
President Joe Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal, which calls for an extension of federal jobless programs and an increase to the $300 weekly benefit.
Democrats in Congress are pushing for a vote on the relief package but face headwinds amid Republican opposition to the overall price tag and provisions of the proposal.
Maine has paid out more than $1.8 billion in federal and state unemployment benefits since mid-March, when the COVID-19 outbreak began.
The state’s jobless rate held steady at about 5% in December, according to figures released by the Maine Department of Labor.
Meanwhile, the state’s unemployment system is still under attack by fraudsters and international criminal gangs who continue to file bogus jobless claims.
During the week ending Jan. 30, the state Labor Department said it rejected at least 916 initial jobless claims that were deemed to be fraudulent.
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