Nearly 6,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits were filed in Maine last week.

The Maine Department of Labor recorded about 3,000 first-time claims for state unemployment insurance, while an additional 2,900 initial claims were filed for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

About 66,700 weekly certifications were filed last week for state unemployment. In addition, about 23,800 continued claims were filed under the PUA program.

Between March 15 and June 13, the department paid out more than $807 million in federal and state unemployment benefits.

The department continues to work with its state and federal law enforcement partners in investigating unemployment imposter fraud.

During the week ending June 13, labor officials say they cancelled about 3,500 initial claims and 8,400 weekly certifications that were suspected of being fraudulent.