The number of people filing for unemployment in Oklahoma dropped 65% last week after numbers set a record a week earlier. Among those out of work, more in the energy industry.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that 32,794 Oklahoma workers filed initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits during the week ending Saturday according to the Tulsa World.
It was the second-fewest number of claims filed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The total was 61,091 fewer claims than were filed the previous week, during which a revised 93,885 Oklahoma workers filed for the first time for benefits.
To put the revised figure of 93,885 claims in perspective, the total is similar to the number of claims processed in Pennsylvania, which is more than three times more populous than Oklahoma and the eighth most of any state during the same week.
The Labor Department initially said the number of first-time claims for the week ending May 2 was 68,237 claims.
“It’s too early to consider this week’s numbers a trend,” Secretary for Digital Transformation David Ostrowe said in a written statement. “We’re hopeful the incredible numbers of job loss and business closures will begin reversing course now that Oklahoma is moving into Phase 2 of Governor Stitt’s reopening of the state. Our neighbors are ready to get back to work and jumpstart our economy.”
The OESC has paid almost $587 million in total benefits to claimants during the COVID-19 crisis with more than 410,000 filing for unemployment relief by the week ending Saturday, the OESC said.
State officials have attributed some of the surge in claims during the week ending May 2 to the opening of a federal pandemic relief program aimed at contract workers and self-employed workers.
The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission last week processed 7,162 claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, an increase from the 2,124 PUA claims filed during the prior week.
Prior to the pandemic, the OESC typically processed about 1,500 to 2,000 first-time jobless claims during a week.
The pre-COVID-19 state record for initial unemployment claims was set in January 1991 when 9,778 claims were filed.
State officials say fraudsters have also been working overtime to try to fool the unemployment system, filing thousands of false claims. The OESC estimates more than 11,000 fictitious claims had been filed with thousands more suspected.
Source: Tulsa World