Maryland reports highest unemployment claims in 2 months

Relief for some stuck in Maryland’s unemployment backlog

It’s a story FOX 5 has been covering relentlessly, Maryland's months-long struggle to pay people their unemployment benefits. New numbers out Thursday show the backlog of people waiting hasn’t changed much this week over last.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland's labor department is reporting the highest number of new unemployment filings in two months.

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The department reported Thursday that 66,559 people filed for unemployment last week. That's the highest number since the week that ended May 2 when more than 109,000 people filed.

Nationally, more than 1.3 million Americans applied for unemployment last week. That's a historically high pace that indicates many employers are still laying people off in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week, Maryland's labor department said it had processed 96% of nearly 625,000 complete unemployment claims it received from March 9 to June 27. Of them, 492,789, or nearly 79%, received benefit payments.

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