First-time jobless claims declined slightly last week, the second consecutive week Oklahoma has posted a modest drop in initial filings, according to a government report.
In all, 16,300 Oklahoma workers filed initial claims for regular unemployment benefits the week ending Saturday, or 456 fewer than filed the prior week, the U.S. Department of Labor reported.
Continued claims, meanwhile, increased for the third consecutive week, or by 3,848 from 29,142 to 32,990. Continued claims are those filed after one week of unemployment.
The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, in its weekly report of job numbers, reminded out-of-work Oklahomans of upcoming job fairs to be held across the state.
“With the decline in initial claims and the upcoming career fairs OESC will host throughout the state, we are hopeful that we will make progress on unemployment and get more Oklahomans back to work,” said Shelley Zumwalt, OESC executive director. “Regarding the career fairs, so far the employers registered represent more than 8,000 open positions. Businesses have safely re-opened, and we’re confident we can help rebuild Oklahoma’s workforce through these re-employment efforts.”
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The OESC will hold a job fair in Tulsa Thursday through Friday at Expo Square.
The fairs will be held after first-time claims hit a 2021 high of 17,997 earlier this month after increasing for three consecutive weeks.
The last time initial claims had been higher than 18,000 for one week was the week ending June 27, when 18,405 claims were filed.
The state also saw an increase in claims under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.
Initial PUA claims increased by 600 to 2,661 the week ending Saturday. PUA is a temporary federal program for gig, contract and self-employed workers who typically don’t qualify for regular unemployment insurance benefits.
Continued PUA claims also increased by 1,602 to 16,021 claims during the week ending Saturday.
Initial claims for benefits under the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation also increased by 1,087 to 36,382 filings during the week ending April 10.
Continued PEUC claims declined from 44,645 to 40,392.
Nationally, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims during the same period was 553,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised level, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
For the week ending April 17, U.S. Department of Labor reports the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6%, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.
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