Analysis worries many Maine layoffs could become permanent

The effects of the COVID-19 financial downturn have wiped out as many as one in six jobs in Maine, according to the Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP), and some projections suggest many of those jobs may never come back.

The most recent figures from the Maine Department of Labor show for the week ending June 6, nearly 80,000 residents received unemployment benefits. That’s an improvement over previous weeks, but still unmatched when compared to recent years.

“For example, claims today are more than 15 times higher than they were during the same period last year, when just under 5,000 Mainers collected state unemployment benefits. Continued claims today are also twice what they were in the week ending April 4, 2009, during the worst point of the Great Recession,” MECEP policy analyst James Myall said in a recent post.

Click here to read the full story, first published June 16, 2020, in The Center Square.