More Than 7K New Unemployment Claims Last Week in Baltimore Co.

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — More than 7,000 people in Baltimore County filed for unemployment last week, according to state unemployment data released Thursday morning. With nonessential businesses closed to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, more than 47,500 Marylanders filed unemployment claims for the week ending April 18.

This brings the five-week total of unemployment claims in the state to 350,000.

Baltimore County remains the jurisdiction with the highest number of claims, at 7,189 for the week ending April 18.

Some employers in Baltimore County who announced layoffs in April were New York & Company, which laid off 40 workers (17 at White Marsh Mall and 23 from Towson Town Center) and Fashion to Figure, which laid off 10 from its store in the Westview shopping center in Catonsville in mid-April.

In Baltimore County, jobless claims are expected to continue. Earlier this month, Under Armour announced that it was laying off more than 600 employees, including 154 employees from its location in Sparrows Point.

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State officials acknowledge that because of the number of people contacting the labor office to file for unemployment, there have been issues with access.

Due to what the Maryland Department of Labor called an "unprecedented volume of users due to COVID-19," measures are in place allowing claimants to file online for weeks that they have missed.

How To File For Unemployment

The Maryland Department of Labor has asked people to file claims online or through call centers according to this schedule:

• If your last name starts with A - F, file your claim Monday.
• If your last name starts with G - N, file your claim Tuesday.
• If your last name starts with O - Z, file your claim Wednesday.
• Claim filing is open to all last names by phone Thursday and Friday and online Thursday through Sunday.
• Filing later in the week will not delay your payments or affect the date of your claim.

Marylanders are encouraged to file their unemployment claims online. Use the online NetClaims application. It is available 24/7, but processing may be faster during non-peak hours, from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Phone lines are open at the claim call center 7 am. to 6 p.m Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturdays at 410-949-0022.

Claimants can also email questions to ui.inquiry@maryland.gov; however, people may not email their claims. These may only be processed by phone or through the online application.

Employers can email questions to dluiemployerassistance-labor@maryland.gov or call 410-767-2412.