For the past nine weeks, initial and continued unemployment claims in Oklahoma have dropped. The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) reports this is the nineth week unemployment claims have dropped. More than $1 billion has been paid since March 1.
OESC is implementing the new Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program recently initiated by President Trump.
“We’re continuing to push forward with improvements and changes at the agency,” said OESC Interim Executive Director Shelley Zumwalt. “We’re not letting our foot off the gas even as some of the pressure is lifted regarding decreasing unemployment claims. From employee training and increased fraud protections to implementing the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program and technology updates, we have our sight set on helping Oklahomans get unemployment assistance as efficiently and quickly as possible.”
Those LWA payments are expected to start in late September.
Weekly Unemployment Numbers for Week Ending Aug. 22
For the week ending Aug. 22, the advance number of initial claims, unadjusted, totaled 5,130, a decrease of 1,431 from the previous week’s revised level of 6,561.
Initial claims’ four-week moving average was 5,997, a decrease of 949 from the previous week’s revised average of 6,946.
The advance unadjusted number of continued claims totaled 112,140, a decrease of 11,165 from the previous week’s revised level of 123,305.
Continued claims’ four-week moving average was 122,134, a decrease of 3,869 from the previous week’s revised average of 126,004.
