New MD Unemployment Claims Top 496K Amid Coronavirus Crisis

ROCKVILLE, MD — An estimated 109,263 Marylanders filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week — nearly a three-fold spike from the 37,225 claims filed the previous week.

Last week's spike in initial jobless claims can be attributed to the implementation of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation. Both programs were created through the CARES Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27.

That brings the total number of claims filed since early March to more than 496,700, according to data released Thursday by the Maryland Department of Labor.

For the latest on the new coronavirus in Maryland, get Patch news alerts.

Until this week, the state did not include PUA and PEUC filings in its tabulations.

PUA lets gig workers, independent contractors, and other self-employed people — who otherwise are ineligible for regular jobless benefits and cannot work due to COVID-19 — receive federally financed unemployment benefits. Those who qualify under PUA will receive up to 39 weeks of benefits, effective Jan. 27, 2020 through Dec. 31, 2020.

PEUC, on the other hand, provides 13 weeks of benefits to eligible claimants who have exhausted their other benefits.

For the week ending May 2, some 44,280 people filed for PUA claims. Another 2,907 applied for PEUC benefits. Montgomery County, the state's most populous jurisdiction, had the highest number of PUA claims, with 7,869. It also had the overall highest number of first-time unemployment filings last week. The total: 19,192.

At 577, Baltimore County had the most PEUC applicants in the state.

Marylanders can now apply for PUA, PEUC, and regular unemployment insurance benefits on the state's BEACON One-Stop application system. Click here to learn more about the application process.

Here's how many people in each county filed first-time unemployment claims last week:

Here's how many people filed over a seven-week period, statewide:

• More Than 2,200 Released From Isolation After Coronavirus In MD
• Maryland Schools To Close For Rest Of Spring: Coronavirus
• Hogan Administration Sued Over Stay-At-Home Order: MD Coronavirus
• MD Testing Coronavirus Drug In Montgomery County
• 60% Of MD Coronavirus Deaths Are In Group Facilities: Officials