Montgomery County First Time Unemployment Claims Top 7,800

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — An estimated 7,853 Montgomery County residents filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week — a decrease of more than 2,500 claims from the 10,391 claims filed in the county the previous week.

That brings the total number of claims filed in Montgomery County since early March to more than 89,000 according to data released Thursday by the Maryland Department of Labor.

Statewide, an estimated 51,108 Marylanders filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week — a decrease of nearly 15,000 claims from the 65,805 claims filed the previous week.

Nationwide, more than 2,438,000 people filed for first time unemployment for the week ending May 16, according to US Department of Labor data released Thursday. This represents a decrease of 249,000 from the previous week's claims.

For the week ending May 16, 3 people in Montgomery County filed for first time unemployment via paper; 1,342 people filed via phone; and 3,884 people filed online.

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Earlier this month, the state implemented the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). Both programs were created through the CARES Act, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27.

For the week ending May 16, 12,566 people filed for PUA claims in Montgomery County. Another 58 applied for PEUC benefits.

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.

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