Business and Economy

Pixelle Specialty Solutions has announced the layoffs of another 51 people at its paper mill in Jay.

Cable TV provider Spectrum allegedly underpaid nine towns in Cumberland County a total of more than $140,000 in franchise fee payments in 2017 and 2018. 

Maine officials say 1,401 people filed first-time claims for state unemployment benefits last week.  That's up 2% from the week before.

Mainers' personal income jumped by 41 percent in the April-to-June quarter, according to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis.  The two main reasons:  federal stimulus spending and state unemployment benefits.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared Aroostook County a Drought Disaster Area. That makes farm operators in Aroostook and its 4 contiguous counties eligible for low-interest emergency loans and other programs.

Shellfish and seaweed growers in Maine are in line for a new round of federal coronavirus relief funds. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue says the USDA is expanding the list of producers who can qualify for its Coronavirus Food Assistance Program to include aquaculture businesses nationwide.

The unemployment rate in Maine dipped below 7% in August, but labor officials warned the jobs picture in the state has been erratic since the start of the pandemic.

The Maine Department of Labor reported on Friday that unemployment rate fell from 9.9% in July to 6.9% in August. The department says in a statement the decrease in unemployment "was partly from an increase in employment, but mostly from a decease in labor force participation."