The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) reports an increase in initial and continued unemployment claims, with the continued claims four-week moving average increasing for the first week in more than 40 weeks. OESC continues to prioritize helping Oklahomans find employment, with planning underway for seven career fairs in May.

“Last week, we saw a significant increase in initial unemployment claims, which is largely due to a number of claimants re-filing for unemployment after their benefit year expired,” said Shelley Zumwalt, OESC Executive Director. “As we continue our focus on providing unemployment bene fits to those in need, we are also placing priority on helping claimants find employment. We have scheduled seven career fairs across the state in May and will also host an online career fair during the month.”

After being on unemployment benefits for 52 weeks, claimants are required to re-file for their benefits. Claimants that first filed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic are in the process of re-filing, which is a requirement from the U.S. Department of Labor (U.S. DOL).

Due to a reporting discrepancy, the numbers that the U.S. DOL reported may not be consistent with the number OESC reported. However, OESC has provided updated information to the U.S. DOL so they can update their data.

Weekly Unemployment Numbers for Week Ending April 10

For the week ending April 10, the advance number of initial claims, unadjusted, totaled 17,997, an increase of 4,145 from the previous week’s revised level of 13,852.

Initial claims’ four-week moving average was 11,956, an increase of 2,771 from the previous week’s revised average of 9,185.

The advance unadjusted number of continued claims totaled 25,593, an increase of 1,367 from the previous week’s revised level of 24,226.

Continued claims’ four week moving average was 24,639, an increase of 732 from the previous week’s revised average of 23,907.

Nationally, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims during the same period was 576,000, a decrease of 193,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the U.S. Department of Labor reports. The fourweek moving average was 683,000, a decrease of 47,250 from the previous week. For the week ending April 3, U.S. DOL reports the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7%, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate.