Unemployment claims fall, jobs increase

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  • Unemployment claims fall, jobs increase
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OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) continues to process record numbers of claims to provide unemployment compensation to support unemployed workers.

The agency processed approximately 77,000 claims totaling $231 million in unemployment payouts (UI, PUA, FPUC, PEUC) for the week of June 10-17, agency officials announced last week.

The OESC processed more Unemployment Insurance claims and denials (which are necessary to qualify for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance) on Monday and Tuesday of last week than all seven days combined of the previous week, said Jeff Fryer, OESC public information officer.

However, the number of new claims has been declining and the number of jobs is increasing.

For the week ending June 13, the number of initial claims, unadjusted, totaled 56,737, a decrease of nearly 27% from the previous week’s revised level. The advance unadjusted number for continued claims totaled 167,247, an increase of 10,452 from the previous week’s revised level.

“I acknowledge there are still people who are having difficulties with the PUA process,” said Shelley Zumwalt, interim executive director of the OESC. “We are working night and day to fix these issues and get those eligible claimants their benefits.”

OKC MAN HAS HAD NO UI PAYMENTS FOR LAST 10 WEEKS

Joey Nelson of Oklahoma City told the Ledger on Monday that he was starting his tenth week without an unemployment payment. “I’ve maxed out my credit cards, and I have rent, insurance and other bills that come due at the first of the month,” he said.

He said he finally received a $600 federal stimulus benefit check (actually $522 after taxes were deducted) last Saturday – but those payments are scheduled to end July 31.

Nelson said he placed his first call to the OESC on April 16 and has called at least once every week since.

He said he never got past a Tier 1 agent, despite asking repeatedly to speak to a Tier 2 agent. Tier 2 agents typically handle claims ranging from incorrect answers provided on an application, to insufficient documentation provided in support of a claim.

Nelson said he met with an OESC agent at an Oklahoma City office on June 17 to discuss his case. He said he was previously informed that his main ticket number was marked resolved by some unknown OESC employee; however, two other ticket numbers were supposed to have been merged with the main ticket number, but weren’t, he learned. Consequently, OESC’s paperwork on his claim reflects – incorrectly – that his case has been settled.

Nelson turns 63 on Friday and said he worked as an independent adjuster for an insurance company for the last four years.

FRAUDULENT CLAIMS NUMBER IN THOUSANDS

“We have processed 688,637 initial claims since March 15,” Fryer said. That number includes claims that were approved, denied, and marked as fraudulent, he said.

“We estimate more than 100,000 fraudulent claims have been identified and not paid out,” Fryer said June 10. “This is, of course, a moving target as we identify more fraudulent claims every day.” Thousands of jobless workers who file genuine claims have had their identities hijacked by fraudsters.

A rumor that the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System was hacked earlier this month was discounted by Tom Spencer, executive director of the pension system. He told the Ledger that, “It would be really, really, really difficult to submit a fraudulent claim to the TRS because so much original paperwork is required.”

Nevertheless, Joey Nelson of Oklahoma City said a friend whose wife is an Oklahoma City schoolteacher reported that more than 60 of her colleagues reported fraudulent unemployment claims have been filed against them.

Joe Fox, executive director of the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System, said that OPERS has not been plagued with “an unusual, significant number of fraudulent unemployment claims.” However, he said, “many of our employees, including me,” have had bogus unemployment claims filed against them personally.

“They had my name right, my Social Security number right, but they used an old address from about 35 years ago,” Fox said.

The fake claims “seem to come in waves,” he said. “One or two here, then a handful, then another handful. About one-third of our employees have been victims of unemployment fraud.”

$1.7 BILLION IN JOBLESS BENEFITS PAID OUT SINCE MARCH 15

OESC has paid out $1.7 billion in unemployment compensation since March 15. That included payments of regular Unemployment Insurance, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation.

The current balance of Oklahoma’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund is $1.144 billion, Fryer said Monday. The trust fund balance on May 24 was a record $1.484 billion, the highest level in at least 22 years, OESC ledgers showed. In comparison, the trust fund balance on June 30, 2019, was $1.137 billion.

In yet another matter, the OESC has hired the Oklahoma City public relations firm Saxum to assist in its public information efforts. The contract is limited to $25,000, Zumwalt said.

CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE INCREASED BY 77K IN MAY

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate for the country was 14.1% for the week ending June 6, unchanged from the previous week’s revised rate.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Oklahoma’s preliminary unemployment rate for May (the latest month for which statistics are available) was 12.6%, an improvement over April’s 14.7% rate.

As the state slowly reopens, the civilian labor force in Oklahoma increased by nearly 77,000 in May, to a preliminary headcount of 1,591,900, BLS ledgers reflect; total nonfarm employment was pegged at 1,579,000.

Employment in the leisure and hospitality sector increased by 23,200 jobs. Employment increased slightly in the construction, financial activities, professional and business services, plus the trade, transportation and utilities sectors. Employment in the education and health services sector held steady at 226,200 jobs. The information sector counted 19,100 jobs in May, 100 fewer than in April. Employment in the manufacturing sector, along with mining and logging, declined for a third consecutive month. The government sector slipped to 340,200 jobs in May, 5,600 fewer than were counted in April.