Claims for Unemployment Compensation, Week Ending April 10

April 15, 2021

For Immediate Release: April 15, 2021

Claims for Unemployment Compensation, Week Ending April 10

AUGUSTA - For the week ending April 10, the Maine Department of Labor recorded about 2,050 initial claims filed for state unemployment insurance, and 200 initial claims filed for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). In total, approximately 2,600 people were filing an initial claim or reopening their unemployment claim.

About 15,100 weekly certifications, or continued claims, were filed last week for state unemployment, with another 13,200 weekly certifications filed under PUA. In addition, about 17,900 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.

Between March 15, 2020 and April 10, 2021, the Maine Department of Labor has paid out over $2 billion in federal and state unemployment benefits.

The Department has handled approximately 251,100 initial claims for the state unemployment program and 110,700 initial claims for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. Note: Claims do not equal the number of unique unemployment claimants. There have been over 3.7 million weekly certifications filed.

Claims data is preliminary and subject to revision. Claims data can be found here: https://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/ui.html

CareerCenter services - https://lnks.gd/2/THvwxt are available to help people identify and take their next steps to employment or training. It is a requirement that those receiving unemployment insurance benefits also be registered on the Maine JobLink, which includes a weekly newsletter for job seekers highlighting opportunities and training.

Other Updates

Routine Website Maintenance

On April 17, beginning at 10 p.m., State of Maine websites will be temporarily unavailable due to routine maintenance. It will resume normal activity by 12 a.m. Unemployment claimants will still be able to reach their ReEmployME account by entering reemployme.maine.gov in their web browser.

Patriots Day Holiday

Although the rest of state government will be closed on Monday, April 19 for the Patriots Day holiday, unemployment payments will be released as usual. The unemployment phone line, 1-800-593-7660, will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Staff will be able to assist claimants with the most common issues, such as:

• new initial claims,
• reopening claims (including after new employment),
• weekly claims,
• password resets, and
• address changes

The full range of services will be available Tuesday - Friday next week.

Virtual Hiring Events

Employers can work with the Maine CareerCenters to hold independent virtual and drive-through hiring events.

Upcoming virtual hiring event: On April 28 from 9-11:30 a.m., Maine CareerCenters and the Sanford Springvale Chamber of Commerce are hosting the 10th Annual York County Job Fair, for jobs in the Hospitality Sector. Job seekers can register by using this online form .

More information on upcoming workshops and events: https://www.mainecareercenter.gov

MDOL Warns Public of Texting, "Telegram," and Social Media Scams

The Maine Department of Labor is warning the public of scammer's attempts to phish individuals personal information via social media platforms and text messages. Scammers are creating social media pages and accounts on direct message apps such as Telegram to mimic the Maine Department of Labors and are asking people to direct message them via these fake pages for unemployment help. The Department is working with social media platforms to remove the fake pages as they pop up.

For Facebook users, look for the Departments verified blue checkmark. The Maine Department of Labor will never ask for sensitive information via social media or direct messenger.

Scammers are also texting the public asking them to click links for information about their unemployment benefits. The Maine Department of Labor does not conduct business via text.

The Department is asking the public stay vigilant, never share personal information through social media or text, and to report fake social media pages immediately.

MDOL Recommends Unemployment Claimants Call Thursdays and Fridays

If unemployment claimants have a question about their claim, the Department recommends that they call the unemployment phone line, 1-800-593-7660, between 8 am and 3 pm Monday-Friday. Call wait times continue to decrease on all days, however Thursdays and Fridays remain the days when call volume is at its lowest and usually have shorter wait times.

They can also leave a message 24/7 at https://www.maine.gov/labor/contact/index.html . They should only put in one message to avoid duplication.

Fraud Update

The U.S. Department of Labor launched anew website for people to understand unemployment insurance identity theft, and how and where to report stolen benefits if they are victims.

The new website provides key steps to help victims address issues that might arise because of previous identity theft and outlines steps to report the theft of unemployment benefits. To assist victims, the department worked closely with other federal agencies and state workforce agencies to consolidate necessary steps and resources.

The Maine Department of Labor continues its careful review of all claims, and to evolve its fraud prevention techniques.

During the week ending April 10, the Department cancelled 380 initial claims and three weekly claims suspected to be fraudulent.

The Department strongly recommends that claimants use a password that is unique to their unemployment account and is not used for anything else.

The Department encourages anyone who believes that someone else has used their or their employees personal information to file a fraudulent unemployment application to notify the Department immediately using this form: https://www.maine.gov/unemployment/idtheft/

All claimants are required to be registered on the Maine JobLink, a free job search tool, where claimants can upload their resumes and employers can post their job openings: https://joblink.maine.gov/job_seeker

People can also call their local CareerCenter to schedule a 1:1 appointment with a CareerCenter Consultant to explore work search activity options specific to the persons individual needs.

More information, videos, and answers to frequently asked questions on the work search requirement can be found at: https://www.maine.gov/labor/unemployment

If an employer has offered work to an employee and that employee refused the work, the employer should notify the Department. A fact-finding would be held to determine if there was good cause for the refusal of work. If no good cause is determined, then the claimant would no longer be eligible for unemployment benefits.

Employers can report refusals of work here: https://www.maine.gov/unemployment/ucbr/