Initial unemployment claims in Maryland spiked last week as the state launched a new application system, added two new benefit programs and began working through a backlog of filings.
New data released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Labor show 65,262 Marylanders filed for unemployment for the week ending May 2, a 72% increase over the prior week’s revised figure of 37,925.
The Maryland Department of Labor also reported claims for two new federal unemployment programs, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) for the first time. Claims for those programs totaled 47,187 statewide, bringing last week’s initial claims to a total of 109,263, just off the state’s peak of 109,489 claims for the week ending April 4. That increase comes after three straight weeks of decreases in initial filings and brings Maryland’s total to nearly 500,000 over the past seven weeks.
In comparison, 3,864 people filed for unemployment the week ending March 14, before Gov. Larry Hogan closed non-essential businesses and instituted other measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Maryland.