AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) The number of initial unemployment claims ticked up slightly over the course of the week, the Maine Department of Labor said.

The labor department said it recorded about 1,200 initial claims filed for state unemployment insurance and 100 initial claims filed for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for the week that ended July 17. It said there were approximately 1,400 people filing an initial claim or reopening an unemployment claim.

The department said it recorded 1,200 initial claims for state unemployment insurance and 60 initial claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance during the previous week. About 1,300 people filed an initial claim or reopened an unemployment claim that week.