Nearly 3,000 more Mainers filed first-time claims for unemployment in the week ending June 13, according to Maine’s Labor Department. Another 2,900 people filed for payments under the federally-funded Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which makes payments to freelancers and others who aren't eligible for state unemployment benefits.
Both figures are lower than a week ago. But the 2,998 people who filed first time claims for state benefits still represent about triple the average number of first time claims the state was processing before the pandemic hit.
Since March 15, the state has received nearly 159,000 first-time claims for state benefits and another 70,000 first-time claims for the federal program.
