OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) reported an 80% spike in first-time unemployment claims last month, and fraud is suspected.
“The relatively large increases in initial and continued claims are the result of fraudulent activity coupled with the approaching end of federal benefits,” said OESC Executive Director Shelley Zumwalt. “Fraudsters are increasing their activity nationwide to try to catch the last federal dollars, but we are aware of this fraud and are taking steps to identify and curb this activity,” she said.
“I think it’s important to note that these numbers are claims filed, not claims processed and paid out,” Zumwalt emphasized.
“For claimants looking toward the upcoming June 26 deadline of federal benefits ending, we’ve announced additional in-person and virtual career fairs to help them find employment.”
The OESC announced it will host two additional career fairs in Oklahoma City and Tulsa at the end of June, just before federal benefits are slated to end. In addition, the agency is extending its virtual career fair throughout the month of June.
The agency encourages claimants looking for employment to attend a career fair before federal benefits end, to take advantage of the $1,200 Return-to-Work Incentive. Oklahomans will find thousands of open positions across a range of industries, including retail sales/customer service, hospitality and foodservice, manufacturing, healthcare, and many more, Zumwalt said.
Additionally, OESC encouraged claimants looking for work who need child care assistance to use the Oklahoma Department of Human Services’ 60 days of subsidized child care by visiting https://okdhslive.org/.
For the file week ending May 22, the unadjusted advance number of initial claims totaled 15,545, an increase of 6,901 from the previous week’s revised count of 8,644. The advance unadjusted number of continued claims totaled 28,902, an increase of 8,643 from the previous week.
Nationally, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims during the same period was 406,000, a decrease of 38,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the U.S. Department of Labor reported.
For the week ending May 15, the U.S. Labor Department said the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6%, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate.