Labor officials say that number of unemployment claims is down from week before

The Maine Department of Labor says the number of initial unemployment claims is down considerably from the week before.

More than 13,000 claims were filed during the week ending April 11th, down from 31,000 the week before.

Nearly 90,000 first time claims have been recorded in the past month as businesses shut their doors due to mandated closures.

Officials still recommend people file their claims online instead of calling.

If you do call the 800 number, there's a system set up to ease phone line congestion.

Last names beginning with A-H should call on Monday, names beginning with I-Q on Tuesday; and those beginning with R-Z on Wednesday.

Thursday and Friday are left unassigned for those who miss their alphabetical day or need to call at that time.

We spoke to a UMaine Economics Professor Philip Trostel on Thursday.

He says while we are watching the unemployment numbers skyrocket around the country, he's optimistic about what will happen when the country starts to reopen.

I think that we should rebound pretty quickly once the business can resume as normal. Once we are relatively safe from the spread of the virus, I think the economy should start to bounce back pretty quickly, mainly because I think there's going to be a lot of pent up demand."

Professor Trostel says a lot depends on how long the lockdown lasts.