December 17, 2020 Claims for Unemployment Compensation, Week Ending December 12 AUGUSTA - For the week ending December 12, the Maine Department of Labor recorded about 3,100 initial claims filed for state unemployment insurance, and 900 initial claims filed for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). In total, approximately 3,900 people were filing an initial claim or reopening their unemployment claim. About 13,900 weekly certifications, or continued claims, were filed last week for state unemployment, with another 17,200 weekly certifications filed under PUA. In addition, about 12,500 weekly certifications were filed for the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program and 85 weekly certifications were filed for the state Extended Benefits program. Weekly certifications must be filed by claimants every week in order to continue to receive unemployment benefits.