Launched during the Great Depression, the unemployment insurance system has seen unprecedented strain during the coronavirus crisis.
The Maine Department of Labor Thursday reported first-time claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell by 63 to a total of 1,169. It was the third consecutive weekly decline. It suggests fewer Mainers are facing layoffs as Maine's economy continues its recovery from last year's pandemic-induced recession.
The first-time claim numbers still aren't all the way back to pre-pandemic levels, but they're getting close. Last week's number was less than a third of the number of last January, when unemployment claims peaked in the fall-winter COVID surge. And it's nothing like the April 2020 spike during the pandemic economic shutdown. In one week, nearly 31,000 people filed for benefits overwhelming the state's system.