Unemployment rate improvement leads to benefits loss
A drop in Maine’s unemployment rate means the state is no longer on the federal list of high unemployment states, meaning long-term unemployed people in Maine will no longer be eligible for up to 13 weeks of federally funded unemployment under the Extended Benefits program.
The Maine Department of Labor says falling unemployment is a welcome sign of improving economic conditions, but will mean that 1,850 Maine workers who may be eligible for EB program will not receive benefits beyond the week of Feb. 18, according to a press release. Federal EB benefits are available to workers in high unemployment states after they have exhausted all regular unemployment insurance benefits and up to 47 weeks of federally-funded unemployment benefits provided under the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program. Maine CareerCenters are reaching out to workers expected to lose benefits.
Maine’s unemployment rate dropped from 7.5% to 7% in December 2011 and jobless claims for benefits were lower in 11 of the last 12 months compared with the year before, Labor Commissioner Robert Winglass said in the release. Nearly 3,000 more Mainers were employed in December 2011 compared with the same period in 2010, and the number of unemployed dropped by 3,800.
State labor officials are also monitoring the status of federal legislation concerning the federal EUC benefits, which approximately 8,500 Maine workers currently receive. Legislation signed into law in December 2011 provided a temporary extension of the EUC program through March 6. The program will be phased out by the summer without congressional action to keep it in place, according to the release.
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