January 21, 2021 Claims for Unemployment Compensation, Week Ending January 16 AUGUSTA - For the week ending January 16, the Maine Department of Labor recorded about 3,300 initial claims filed for state unemployment insurance, and 1,000 initial claims filed for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). In total, approximately 3,800 people were filing an initial claim or reopening their unemployment claim. About 17,000 weekly certifications, or continued claims, were filed last week for state unemployment, with another 14,300 weekly certifications filed under PUA. In addition, about 17,850 weekly certifications were filed for the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program. Weekly certifications must be filed by claimants every week in order to continue to receive unemployment benefits.