AUGUSTA — For the week ending June 5, the Maine Department of Labor recorded about 1,600 initial claims filed for state unemployment insurance, and 150 initial claims filed for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). In total, approximately 1,900 people were filing an initial claim or reopening their unemployment claim. These numbers represent claim applications; claims are then reviewed for eligibility and legitimacy.

Overall unemployment continued claims filed each week continue to steadily decline, down roughly 760 claims from the previous week. About 10,700 weekly certifications, or continued claims, were filed last week for state unemployment, with another 11,900 weekly certifications filed under PUA.

In addition, about 15,600 weekly certifications were filed for the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program. Weekly certifications must be filed by claimants every week in order to continue to receive unemployment benefits.

For the same time period, roughly 3,600 unemployment claimants reported having partial earnings for the week. In many cases, people receiving unemployment benefits can work part-time and still retain the $300 weekly Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) offered by Congress through September 4. More information, including a walk-through video and “partial benefit calculator,” can be found here: maine.gov/unemployment/pub.

Between March 15, 2020 and June 5, 2021, the Maine Department of Labor has paid out over $2.2 billion in federal and state unemployment benefits. Approximately $1.7 billion of the $2.2 billion was paid through federal unemployment programs.

The Department has handled approximately 262,400 initial claims for the state unemployment program and 111,900 initial claims for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. Note: Claims do not equal the number of unique unemployment claimants. There have been over four million weekly certifications filed.

Upcoming hiring event: On June 15, from 12-3 p.m., Maine CareerCenters and the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce are hosting an in-person hiring event at Sherman's Field on Townsend Ave. in Boothbay Harbor.
The event is open to all job seekers and employers. More information, including how employers can register and a list of attending employers can be found here. 

During the week ending June 5, the Department cancelled 213 initial claims suspected to be fraudulent.