OKLAHOMA CITY — Initial and continuing jobless claims fell for the week ending Sept. 5, marking 11 consecutive weeks of fewer Oklahomans needing unemployment benefits, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) recently reported.
The agency also announced it processed more than 820,000 claims by Aug. 29 and had paid out more than $2.95 billion in weekly unemployment benefits since March 1.
The total balance of the trust fund as of May 24 was $1.484 billion, the highest it had been in at least 22 years, an OESC spokesman reported. In comparison, the trust fund balance on Sept. 13 stood at $245.3 million, OESC Communications Director Matt Elliott said Tuesday.
Maximum unemployment benefit payments this year are $539 and the minimum benefit is $16, according to the OESC.
Recent data showed that the agency achieved a 61% first-call resolution rate for callers to its claims hotline. This means that almost two-thirds of the individuals who called to get assistance with their unemployment claims got the help they needed without requiring further assistance, Elliott said.
“I’m encouraged by the continuing improvement in unemployment claims, and the work we’re doing internally to adjust to ever-changing circumstances,” said OESC Executive Director Shelley Zumwalt.
“We have started seeing some positive impacts from the changes we’ve implemented at OESC over the past few months. Things like increasing call center staff and removing the tiered calling system are directly impacting how we improve first-call resolution and assist Oklahomans who need help,” she said.
LOST WAGES PROGRAM UPDATE
“We’re also moving quickly to implement the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program,” Zumwalt said.
Oklahoma has received approval for weeks four and five of the Lost Wages Assistance Program from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the OESC has submitted its application for the sixth week of LWA benefits, Zumwalt said.
On Sept. 9 FEMA and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) notified OESC that the LWA benefit would expire after six weeks, which was the week of Sept. 5.
“The decision to cap the LWA program at six weeks was made by FEMA and DOL,” Zumwalt said. “OESC and the state of Oklahoma have applied for the maximum amount of benefits available.
The six-week cap is the same for all states.”
The benefit is set to be implemented in Oklahoma later this month.
OESC’s timeline for implementation “does not impact the number of weeks Oklahomans will receive from this benefit,” Zumwalt said. “The team is continuing to ...implement this program as efficiently as possible in order to get money in Oklahomans’ hands.”
The LWA program will provide $300 in weekly unemployment benefits to claimants in Oklahoma. Claimants who receive at least $100 in weekly unemployment benefits are eligible; that is the majority of claimants who receive traditional and PUA benefits, Elliott said.
At the time of implementation, claimants will receive a lump sum payment for the period of Aug. 1 through Sept. 5. LWA program benefits will be paid from federal funds via FEMA, Elliott said.
JOBLESS CLAIMS THROUGH SEPT. 5
Initial and continued unemployment claims declined for the eleventh consecutive week, Elliott said.
• The unadjusted number of initial claims totaled 5,251, down from the previous week’s revised level of 6,019.
• The less volatile initial claims’ four-week moving average was 5,974, down 109 from the previous week’s revised average.
• The advance, unadjusted number of continued claims totaled 103,903, which was 15,668 fewer than the previous week’s revised level.
• The less volatile continued claims’ four-week moving average was 117,323, a decrease of 6,517 from the previous week’s revised average.
The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims nationwide during the same period was 884,000, unchanged from the previous week’s revised level, the U.S. Department of Labor reported.
Nationally, unemployment dropped sharply in August from 10.2% to a still-high 8.4%, with about half of the 22 million jobs lost to the coronavirus outbreak recovered so far, the federal government said Sept. 11 in one of the last major economic reports before Election Day.