OKLAHOMA CITY – Almost half a million Oklahomans have filed for unemployment benefits, and more than a billion dollars in total benefits have been paid during the coronavirus and energy sector crises, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) reported recently.
Nationwide, approximately 41 million Americans have lost their jobs – three times more than were unemployed in the depths of the Great Depression of the 1930s.
The jobless rate in Oklahoma was 13.7% in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate for the country was 14.5% for the week ending May 16, according to the BLS.
MORE THAN 475,000 ARE OUT OF WORK
More than 475,000 individuals in Oklahoma had filed for unemployment relief by the week ending May 23.
The number of initial claims for unemployment benefits filed with the OESC for the week ending May 23 totaled 32,127, reflecting the impact of ongoing business closures. That was a modest decrease from the previous adjusted week’s total of 33,440 initial claims.
Until these concurrent crises, the previous one-week record was 9,778 initial unemployment claims filed one week in January 1991, ledgers extending back to 1987 reflect.
“Even as our business community reopens and recalls workers, the number of new unemployment claims remains historically high,” said OESC Interim Director Shelley Zumwalt. “The number of Oklahomans struggling to make ends meet in the face of our state’s staggering job loss is astounding,” she said.
$1B-PLUS IN BENEFITS PAID TO OKLA. CLAIMANTS
More than $1 billion in total benefits have been paid to claimants during the Covid-19 and oil industry crises, OESC ledgers reflect.
The total benefits paid figure includes $400,321,064 in weekly regular and PUA claims and $641,848,825 in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Benefits – the additional $600 that’s being paid weekly to more than 30 million Americans, according to the Associated Press, but is set to expire July 31.
STATE UNEMPLOYMENT FUND CLIMBS TO $1.484B
Apparently the federal government is underwriting almost all of the unemployment benefits for the army of jobless workers in this state, because the impact of this economic crisis has barely touched Oklahoma’s unemployment fund. The state’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund is $347 million higher now than it was 11 months ago.
The trust fund balance on May 24 was a record $1.484 billion, the high- est the balance has been in at least 22 years, OESC ledgers show. In comparison, the trust fund balance on June 30, 2019, was $1.137 billion.
The highest monthly amount paid out during the 2007-2009 recession was $58.3 million in June 2009, OESC records show.
MORE THAN 66K APPLY FOR PANDEMIC PAYMENTS
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims top 62,000, Zumwalt said. Those are claimants who have been denied regular unemployment benefits. PUA is designed for gig workers, independent contractors, and other self-employed individuals who do not qualify for regular unemployment relief.
In addition, more than 4,000 Oklahomans have filed for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 13 weeks of additional unemployment benefits for individuals who have exhausted the traditional Unemployment Insurance assistance of 26 weeks. This program will extend through the week ending Dec. 26 and is backdated to March 29.
The state also was making continued claim payments to 135,504 individuals during the week ending May 23, the OESC reported.