Maine has paid out $1B in unemployment benefits during pandemic
The Maine Department of Labor has surpassed $1 billion in benefits paid during pandemic
Between March 15 and July 4, the Maine Department of Labor has paid out about $1.03 billion in federal and state unemployment benefits. By comparison, the department paid out nearly $73.9 million in unemployment benefits during all of 2019.
"Since the beginning of the pandemic, the department has paid out over $1 billion dollars in state and federal unemployment benefits," said Laura Fortman, commissioner of the state Department of Labor.
On the plus side, infusing $1 billion dollars into the Maine economy has been a lifeline for both workers and communities, she said.
From March 15 to July 4 period, the Department has handled approximately 168,000 initial claims for the state unemployment program and 77,000 initial claims for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. There have been about 1.6 million weekly certifications filed.
Claims data is preliminary and subject to revision. The official unemployment rate and accompanying economic data for June will be released on July 17, which will give a clearer picture of the state's economy.
Fraud update
The Labor Department continues its review of all claims as it investigates unemployment imposter fraud.
During the week ending July 4, the department canceled about 400 initial claims and 2,400 weekly certifications that were determined to be fraudulent.
In total, between the week ending May 30 through week ending July 4, the department has canceled roughly 25,000 initial claims and 46,400 weekly certifications that were determined to be fraudulent.
To date, the department has received over 27,000 reports of unemployment imposter fraud, some of which are duplicates if both the employee and employer reported the fraud. The department has also reinstated almost 11,600 claims to legitimate claimants that had been flagged for potential fraud.
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