Discouraged workers Thousands of Mainers exhausting unemployment benefits

Maria Nickles of Union is frustrated. She has exhausted her unemployment benefits, and the slow recovery from the recession that economists say the country is experiencing is not apparent to her.

“My benefits ran out in April,” she said. “And I have been looking for work. I don’t want another manufacturing job – this is the second one I have lost. I really want a career, not just a job.”

The 41-year-old mother of two lost her job at Nautica in Rockland a year ago when that plant shut down. In the 1990s, she lost a manufacturing job at National Sea Products when that facility in Rockland closed. Since April she and her self-employed husband have been “scraping by” with the help of family and friends, she said.

Though Maine doesn’t keep such statistics, state officials estimate Nickles is one of thousands of “discouraged workers” who have exhausted their unemployment benefits and remain without a job. And by November, an additional 10,000 of the 12,000 Mainers currently receiving unemployment benefits will join the ranks of the discouraged if they haven’t found jobs yet.

A study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington-based think tank, estimated that there were 3.9 million “discouraged workers” nationally in June. Based on such studies, officials here believe thousands of Mainers remain unemployed after exhausting their benefits.

But they don’t know for sure, because Maine only keeps track of the people who do have jobs and those collecting unemployment – 660,000 and 12,000, respectively, in June.

“We do not have any good estimates of the total number that have used all of their benefits because they are no longer in our system,” said Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman. “I think we have to get a handle on how many people we are talking about and, more importantly, find a way to help them.”

Fortman said she had discussed with department staff ways to track individuals after they have exhausted unemployment benefits and how to provide them with some “meaningful” help in their continued job search.

Mainers are eligible for 26 weeks of state unemployment benefits that cover a portion of what they made while working. Congress also recently authorized a program that provided for an additional 17 weeks of federally paid benefits, but that program ends in November.

The state’s unemployment system tracks how many people are receiving benefits at any one time, but once all benefits are exhausted, the state no longer keeps in contact with the individual recipients. Dana Evans, a labor economist with the department, said that with additional resources those people could be tracked on a quarterly basis.

“The department receives quarterly reports from employers listing the wages a worker has received in that quarter by Social Security number,” he said. “I think it may be possible to match that file with the exhaustee file.”

Fortman is having her staff explore that approach to see if it would work. She said even if a person is identified, there are no programs currently in place specifically aimed at helping them find jobs or make ends meet.

But the Senate chairman of the Legislature’s Labor Committee said, “Even if we send a postcard asking if they have found a job and reminding them of the career centers it would be a help.

“These people are called ‘discouraged workers’ for a reason,” said Sen. Beth Edmonds, D-Falmouth. “They are distraught; they have exhausted their benefits and still have not found a job. I know I would be discouraged.”

Edmonds praised Fortman for looking at the issue. She said even without a good estimate in Maine, it is clear national studies indicate the number of workers exhausting benefits is increasing.

“I don’t think we are any different here in Maine,” she said. “We need to do something to help these people.”

Rep. Theodore Heidrich, R-Oxford, also serves on the Labor Committee. He said he was not aware that the state does not have an outreach program in place aimed at Mainers who have exhausted their unemployment benefits and still haven’t found work. But he said it is not enough to simply adopt an outreach program.

“I am really concerned that what we need to be doing is creating more jobs in this state,” he said. “I will give credit to Gov. Baldacci that he is trying to do that, as did Gov. King. But I am not sure the Legislature is doing all it can to help businesses create new jobs.”

Heidrich believes too many state policies discourage businesses with excessive rules and regulations. He also said the high tax burden in the state is holding down expansion efforts by many businesses.

“Whatever we do, we should do it after a thorough study,” said Sen. Tom Sawyer, R-Bangor, who served on the Labor Committee for two years. “We need to know why people could not find a job while they were on unemployment and come up with a way to help them get a job before they run out of benefits.”

Sawyer said he has been troubled by the lack of research concerning the unemployed, as well as the underemployed. He said lawmakers cannot make good policy without good information.

While the unemployment rate in Maine decreased in June to 4.4 percent, the most recent month available, some analysts argue that the decline may be the result of some workers giving up their job search and no longer being counted. That sort of detailed study is not done at the state level, but what is available indicates a mixed picture.

“The number of first-time claimants is actually down a little, but people are remaining unemployed for a longer period of time,” Evans said. “That’s what we saw in the first six months.”

Fortman said she is having more data developed to help her, and lawmakers, develop policies for dealing with Maine’s unemployed.