Unemployment claims continue to decline

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) reports a decline in both initial claims and the initial claims’ four-week moving average, with continued claims and the continued claims’ four-week moving average also declining.

“For the past few weeks, Oklahoma has seen unemployment claims numbers continue to decline with this week’s numbers declining across the board,” said Shelley Zumwalt, OESC Executive Director. “The continued claims’ four-week moving average is the strongest indicator of the direction employment is heading in the state, and we are continuing to see that average decline.”

 

Weekly Unemployment Numbers for Week Ending July 31

• For the file week ending July 31, the number of initial claims totaled 3,533, a decrease of 190 from the previous week’s level of 3,723.
• For the same file week, the less volatile initial claims four-week moving average was 4,859, a decrease of 810 from the previous week’s average of 5,669.
• The number of continued claims totaled 29,690, a decrease of 2,664 from the previous week’s level of 32,354.
• Continued claims’ four-week moving average was 34,911, a decrease of 1,605 from the previous week’s average of 36,516.

Nationally, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for the week ending Aug. 7 was 375,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised level, the U.S. Department of Labor reports. The four-week moving average was 396,250, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week’s revised average. For the week ending July 31, U.S. DOL reports the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1%, a decrease from the previous week’s revised rate.

The national weekly seasonally adjusted initial claims report is one of 10 components in the Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators. To smooth out the volatility in the weekly initial claims data, a four-week moving average is used to assess trends.

Claimant Resources

Individuals seeking unemployment benefits should go to https://ui.ok.gov and create an account with the Get Started button to connect their social security number and pull all unemployment information into one location.

Unemployment claimants should be aware that not returning to work when recalled or when work is available could potentially lead to disqualification from receiving unemployment benefits.

Employers may report this activity by emailing returntowork@oesc.state.ok.us, calling 405-962-7524, or mailing OESC at P.O. Box 52006, Oklahoma City, OK, 73152-2006.