MD Unemployment Claims: 37,383 Filed Last Week; New Total Tops 1M

MARYLAND — Another 37,383 Marylanders filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week, the Maryland Department of Labor reported Thursday, pushing the 17-week jobless total to more than 1 million.

The latest figure — which covers the week ending July 11 — represents a 43.8 percent decrease from the 66,559 jobless claims that were filed the prior week. It also marks the lowest level for claims since the week ending May 2 — when the state began including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) filings in its tabulations.

Both programs were created through the CARES Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27. The difference: PUA is for gig workers, contractors, and other self-employed people who otherwise are ineligible for regular jobless benefits; and PEUC provides an additional 13 weeks of pay to workers who've exhausted their other benefits.

Of the 37,383 workers who applied last week, 17,594 filed for PUA. The jurisdiction with the most PUA claims was Prince George's County, according to state data. The total: 4,725.

Last week, the state recorded 1,132 PEUC claims. Baltimore County had the most, with 251 filings.

On Wednesday, Gov. Larry Hogan announced that the state had thwarted a "massive and sophisticated criminal enterprise" that involved more than 47,500 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims and totaled more than $501 million.

The Maryland Department of Labor caught the attempted theft over the July 4 weekend, when workers noticed an influx of out-of-state residents applying for unemployment insurance. These identities were not stolen from the state's unemployment database, Hogan emphasized, but came from previous federal breaches.

The Republican governor said the identities of people who filed for unemployment insurance in Maryland were not compromised. Anybody who fears their information was stolen should email ui.fraud@maryland.gov.

States across the country are battling similar scams, said Maryland Secretary of Labor Tiffany Robinson. The FBI has urged the public to be wary of fraud in these vulnerable times.