New unemployment claims in Maine continue to fall
(The Center Square) – New unemployment claims in Maine dropped again last week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s weekly report.
There were 1,187 new applications for state unemployment benefits filed for the week that ended July 10 – down by 65 from the previous week, the federal agency reported on Thursday. It’s the second week in a row that new jobless claims have declined.
The state also reported a drop in new claims for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. There were 63 claims for PUA last week, which was about 51 fewer claims than the previous week, according to the report.
Continuing jobless claims – which lag behind a week but are viewed as a barometer of the unemployment situation – totaled 8,788 in the week ending July 3, a decline of 685 over the prior week.
Maine has distributed more than $2.3 billion in state and federal jobless benefits to about 380,000 jobless workers during the pandemic, according to state data.
The state’s unemployment rate remained steady at 4.7% in May, according to the Maine Department of Labor.
That’s down from a high of 9.1% last April but still higher than the state’s average 3% unemployment rate throughout 2019.
Despite that, Maine businesses are struggling to fill tens of thousands of jobs unfilled with the busy summer tourist season underway.
To help ease the hiring crunch, Gov. Janet Mills has reinstituted a work search requirement mandating that individuals receiving jobless benefits actively look for work and accept positions for which they are “reasonably qualified.” Those who refuse to accept an offer can lose their unemployment benefits.
Mills has rolled out a “Back to Work” program that provides a $1,500 payment for eligible workers who begin new jobs. Part time workers are also eligible for a bonus.
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 June 26, the state Labor Department said it rejected at least 1,889 initial jobless claims that were deemed to be fraudulent.
Nationally, there were 360,000 new claims filed in the week that ended July 10, a drop of 26,000 from the previous week, according to the labor department.
Continuing claims, which lag behind a week, dropped by 126,000 to 3.24 million nationally for the week that ended July 3. The numbers reflect that a number of states have ended participation in federal employment programs.
More than 13.8 million Americans were still receiving state or federal jobless benefits in the week ending June 26, the agency reported.
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