OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) reports increases in initial and continued unemployment claims. The agency also updated the eligibility for the $1,200 Return-to-Work Incentive the governor announced in May, and revealed plans for two more career fairs this month.
The OESC “is continuing to focus on providing benefits to those in need, while also focusing on connecting jobseekers with employment opportunities through our re-employment services and upcoming career fairs,” said Shelley Zumwalt, the agency’s executive director. “We are hopeful that as federal unemployment benefits come to an end this month, we will begin to see decreases in the state’s unemployment numbers.”
OESC has updated eligibility requirements for the $1,200 Return-to-Work Incentive.
The Return-to-Work Incentive is available to the first 20,000 eligible claimants who filed for unemployment benefits between May 2-15 and who work one full-time job or two part-time jobs that equal more than 32 hours per work for more than six consecutive weeks. Claimants can begin applying for the incentive on June 28.
Previously only claimants who worked a full-time job of 32 or more hours a week qualified.
“We made this change to ensure that we can accommodate as many individuals as possible as they rejoin the workforce,” Zumwalt said. “Claimants will have more opportunities to connect with potential employers at our upcoming career fairs in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, where employers are looking to fill both full-time and part time positions.”
CAREER FAIRS IN OKC, TULSA
The agency’s Tulsa career fair will be held at the Tulsa Expo Square River Spirit Expo on June 23, and the Oklahoma City career fair will be held June 25 at the Oklahoma City Convention Center.
Although not required, individuals can preregister to attend the events at http:// regpack.com/reg/oesc21. Employerscanregisterathttp:// regpack.com/reg/oesc.
“Right now, the number of employers registered for our career fairs represent more than 12,000 open positions that could qualify certain claimants to apply for the governor’s $1,200 Return-to-Work incentive,” Zumwalt said.
Jobseekers in the Oklahoma City area will find open positions across a variety of businesses and industries, including Amazon, the City of Oklahoma City, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Volunteers of America, and the U.S. Postal Service. The Tulsa career fair will have employers like the City of Tulsa, Utica Park Clinic & Oklahoma Heart Institute and Oklahoma State University.
Registration information about the June 23 and June 25 events can be found at http://regpack.com/reg/ oesc21.
OESC also is hosting a virtual career fair through the end of June to allow Oklahomans from across the state access to employment opportunities.
In a related matter, the Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency announced several job openings Wednesday. Those included:
Emergency housing voucher field agent, housing voucher field agent, and single-family homeownership specialist (salary range $36,990- $46,984); homeownership assistance fund supervisor ($54,155-$68,790); and housing program payment specialist ($33,625-$42,713).
UNEMPLOYMENT NUMBERS FOR WEEK ENDING MAY 29
For the file week ending May 29, the number of initial jobless claims totaled 12,722, an increase of 4,362 from the previous week. For the same period, the less volatile initial claims four-week moving average was 9,800, an increase of 436 from the previous week’s average.
The number of continuing claims totaled 33,446, an increase of 738 from the previous week.
Continued claims’ fourweek moving average was 34,253, a decrease of 1,039 from the previous week’s average.
Nationally the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for the week ending June 5 was 376,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level, the U.S. Department of Labor reports.
The four-week moving average was 402,500, a decrease of 25,500 from the previous week’s unrevised average.
For the week ending May 29, U.S. DOL reports the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.5%, a decrease of 0.2 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate.
ACCOUNTS FREEZE NOW RESOLVED
Several thousand unemployment benefit payment cards were frozen last weekend because of “suspicious activity” attributed to “fraudulent actors,” the OESC explained.
However, “OESC completed a review of a number of Way2Go cards that had been suspended, and reinstated them,” Ms. Zumwalt announced earlier this week. “Claimants with those accounts should be able to access their cards/funds now. Claimants should check their card access before visiting a local office.”
Apparently, scammers attempted – again – to siphon off unemployment benefits. At the height of the coronavirus pandemic last year, the OESC and unemployment agencies in several other states were flooded with thousands of fraudulent un- employment benefit claims.