July 23rd, 2020 by WCBC Radio
New unemployment filings were down in Maryland last week. State labor officials said 33,378 Maryland workers filed first-time claims last week, down from 37,383 the week prior. 245 came from Allegany County.
Nationally, jobless claims are up for the first time since March. The increase in weekly jobless claims to 1.4 million served to underscore the outsize role the unemployment insurance system is playing among the nation’s safety net programs — just when a $600 weekly federal aid payment for the jobless is set to expire at the end of this week. An additional 975,000 applied last week for jobless aid under a separate program that has made self-employed and gig workers eligible for the first time.
The weakening of the labor market has raised fears that the economy will shed jobs again in July, after two sharp hiring gains in May and June, and derail prospects for a recovery from the recession.
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