WHO: David Gerstenfeld, Acting Director, Oregon Employment Department and Gail Krumenauer, State Employment Economist
WHEN: Wednesday, 1 p.m. PST, Oct. 20, 2021.
WHAT: The Oregon Employment Department is hosting a video-conference media briefing to share updates on economic and workforce-related trends, employment services, unemployment claims processing, claimant resources and more.
WHERE: Via Zoom video conference: Members of the media must RSVP by emailing OED_Communications@employ.oregon.gov by 12 p.m. PST on Wed., Oct. 20. Video conference information will be provided to all reporters who RSVP. RSVPs must indicate if the reporter wants to ask a question of the presenters.
OTHER: The Oregon Employment Department is updating a claims processing progress data dashboard weekly. Visit this link for weekday updates. After the briefing concludes, a recording of the video conference will be emailed to reporters who RSVP’d.
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Equal Opportunity program — auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Contact: (503) 953-2366. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, call 711 Telecommunications Relay Services.
Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.7% in September from 5.0%, as revised, in August. In September, 102,000 Oregonians were unemployed. This is a remarkable improvement from the worst labor force impacts of the COVID recession when 270,000 Oregonians were jobless in April 2020. However, there is still ground to make up to approach the average of 82,000 Oregonians unemployed during 2017 through 2019, during the tight labor market of the prior economic expansion. The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 4.8% in September from 5.2% in August.
In Oregon, nonfarm payroll employment declined by 200 in September, following a revised gain of 8,900 jobs in August. Monthly gains averaged 10,200 during January through August. Job reductions in September were largest in government (-3,800 jobs) and construction (-1,400). These losses were balanced by substantial gains in professional and business services (+2,500 jobs); leisure and hospitality (+2,200); and transportation, warehousing, and utilities (+1,000 jobs).
The private sector added 3,600 jobs in September, continuing the steady private-sector expansion that averaged 4,600 jobs added per month over the past six months.
Government job losses in September were concentrated in local government where some K-12 schools added fewer employees than is typical at the start of the school year. Other local government employers are still well below their staffing levels seen two years ago, prior to the recession.
Leisure and hospitality added 2,200 jobs in September, following a gain of 1,200 in August. Despite these gains, leisure and hospitality still accounts for the bulk of Oregon’s jobs not recovered since early 2020, with 42,100 jobs left to recover to reach the prior peak month of February 2020. The industry has regained 62% of jobs lost early in the pandemic.
Professional and technical services has grown at a rapid rate throughout 2021, and is now well above its pre-recession peak. This industry added 11,800 jobs since the low point in April 2020. Most of the jobs in the broader industry are found in firms providing services in the areas of legal, architectural, engineering, computer systems design, management consulting, research, and veterinary.
Next Press Releases
The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the September county and metropolitan area unemployment rates on Tuesday, Oct. 26, and the next statewide unemployment rate and employment survey data for October on Tuesday, Nov. 16.
The Oregon Employment Department and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) work cooperatively to develop and publish monthly Oregon payroll employment and labor force data. The estimates of monthly job gains and losses are based on a survey of businesses. The estimates of unemployment are based on a survey of households and other sources.
The Oregon Employment Department publishes payroll employment estimates that are revised quarterly by using employment counts from employer unemployment insurance tax records. All department publications use this Official Oregon Series data unless noted otherwise. This month’s release incorporates the January, February and March 2021 tax records data. The department continues to make the original nonfarm payroll employment series available; these data are produced by the BLS.
The PDF version of the news release can be found at QualityInfo.org/press-release. To obtain the data in other formats such as in Excel, visit QualityInfo.org, then within the top banner, select Economic Data, then choose LAUS or CES. To request the press release as a Word document, contact the person shown at the top of this press release
To file a claim for unemployment benefits or get more information about unemployment programs, visit unemployment.oregon.gov.
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Equal Opportunity program — auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Contact: (503) 947-1794. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, call 711 Telecommunications Relay Services.
Our next media briefing is scheduled for 1 p.m., Wed., Oct. 20.
Helping Oregonians Get Back to Work
WorkSource Oregon centers offer a variety of services to help Oregonians get back to work. The centers refer people to jobs, connect job seekers to resources that reduce barriers to returning to work, help people explore career options and training opportunities, assist with iMatchSkills® and work search requirements, and more.
Last week’s Hiring Heroes for Healthcare statewide virtual job fair was a success, with more than 50 employers and 300 job seekers attending.
Here are just a few highlights of upcoming WorkSource Oregon events:
Economic Update
Last Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that U.S. employers added 194,000 jobs to nonfarm payrolls in September. That would have been a typical number of jobs to add in a month prior to the pandemic. However, that 194,000 was a slowdown from the 366,000 jobs U.S. employers added in August, and significantly lower than the nearly 1.1 million jobs added in July. Employers still have five million fewer jobs than before the pandemic recession.
Leisure and hospitality – which includes jobs at hotels, restaurants, bars, and entertainment places – added the most jobs (74,000) in September. Public K-12 schools and universities fell 161,000 jobs short of their typical hiring as they struggled to find enough workers as the school year started. Health care lost 18,000 jobs in September.
There are three broad parts of the health care sector. They include ambulatory health care services (such as doctor’s and health practitioners’ offices); hospitals; and nursing and residential care facilities. Nationwide, ambulatory health care services has recovered 99.7% (all but 4,700) of the jobs lost in the spring of 2020. At the same time, hospitals are still down 93,000 jobs compared to February 2020, having only regained 28% of jobs lost in the recession. Nursing and residential care facilities have generally continued to lose jobs since the pandemic began. The industry has 426,000 fewer jobs than it did before the recession.
Oregon has seen some similar trends in the health care sector. As of August, ambulatory care jobs had increased by 3,100 during the past year. Meanwhile, hospitals saw small gains (300 jobs) during the past year, and employment at nursing and residential care facilities dropped by 1,300 jobs.
While the pace of job growth has slowed in the U.S., the number of job openings remains near record highs. There were 10.4 million unfilled jobs nationwide at the end of August. The number of people who quit their jobs hit a new record high at 4.3 million, or almost 3% of the workforce. At hotels, bars, restaurants, and entertainment places, almost 7% of the workforce quit in August.
The Employment Department will release information about Oregon’s unemployment rate and jobs numbers for September next Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 10 a.m. Next week, we also expect to have our quarterly job vacancy release, with new information about job openings in Oregon from July to September.
Listening Sessions on Temporary Availability Rule
The first Listening Session to receive feedback on changes to the “available to work” requirements for people claiming unemployment insurance (UI) benefits is 2:30 – 4 p.m. this Thursday, Oct. 14. The department has scheduled six listening sessions for businesses, workers, community organizations, and others to give feedback on the new temporary rule before any permanent changes are made. All listening session dates and times are posted on the unemployment.oregon.gov webinar page. Visit our online Temporary Eligibility Rule FAQs for more information.
Last week’s statistics
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Equal Opportunity program — auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Contact: 971-673-6400. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, call 711 Telecommunications Relay Services.
Our next media briefing is scheduled for 1 p.m., Wed., Oct. 20.
Helping Oregonians Get Back to Work
Through ongoing Return to Work efforts, WorkSource Oregon centers refer people to jobs, connect job seekers to resources that reduce barriers to returning to work, help people explore career options and training opportunities, assist with iMatchSkills® and work search requirements, and more. Here are just a few highlights for this week:
Employer Payroll Tax Break
The Employment Department has notified businesses that were initially determined as eligible for the pandemic-related employer payroll tax relief provided by HB 3389, which passed earlier this year.
The state is rolling back employers’ UI tax experience ratings for years 2022 through 2024 to the tax ratings they had pre-pandemic 2020. This means employers’ UI tax experience rates (benefit ratio) will be based on their experience rate prior to the pandemic, offsetting any increases they would otherwise have experienced due to safety measures they took to keep customers and employees safe from the virus.
Employers who meet all conditions of the relief plan are eligible to defer up to one-third of their 2021 UI taxes until June 30, 2022, without accruing interest or penalties on the deferred amount.
Economic Update
When federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits expired on Sept. 4, about 81,000 people in Oregon saw their unemployment benefits end. This includes about 49,000 workers whose Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) claims ended, and about 32,000 whose Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits ended.
Workers whose PEUC claims ended had jobs with a payroll employer prior to the pandemic. By contrast, about four out of five PUA claimants were self-employed (not on an employer’s payroll) before the pandemic. For the workers whose PEUC benefits ended in September, the largest group, at 8,400, had jobs in Oregon’s hotels, restaurants, and bars before becoming unemployed. Healthcare and social assistance and retail trade were the next largest groups, at about 6,000 each.
There’s been some speculation that the end of federal pandemic unemployment benefits would also mark the end of recent labor shortages in Oregon and across the U.S. However, even though these benefits ended, it's still likely to be difficult for employers to hire as many workers as they'd like to in the coming weeks and months. Some industries have bigger job deficits to overcome than others.
For example, the accommodation and food services industry is about 35,000 jobs below its pre-recession jobs level. So, even if each of the 8,400 claimants who lost their PEUC benefits went back to payroll jobs in hotels, restaurants, and bars, it would only fill 24% of the industry’s gap to a full jobs recovery.
Another challenge specific to accommodation and food services is that many workers moved on to other industries. Nearly 37,000 of the people who worked at Oregon’s hotels, restaurants, and bars between January and March of 2020 had moved on to a job in a different industry by the winter of 2021. That’s a concern for an industry rapidly trying to recover jobs lost to the pandemic.
Another 36,000 former accommodation and food services workers were no longer found working for any payroll employer in Oregon, and they weren’t on a UI claim either. These workers likely either moved out of the state, or they dropped out of the labor force. There are many reasons someone may be out of the labor force, including retirement, going back to school, health concerns amid an ongoing pandemic, child care or self-employment constraints.
Research from the Employment Department, a prominent academic study, and private-sector findings all suggest that a combination of ongoing COVID-19 concerns, increasing retirements, and other labor force factors are contributing to continued worker shortages.
Listening Sessions on Temporary Availability Rule
On Sunday, Sept. 26, temporary changes to the “able and available to work” requirements for people claiming unemployment insurance (UI) benefits expired, as it was 90 days after the COVID-19 emergency declaration periods ended.
This means people filing for initial and weekly claims for benefits must now be able to work and available for suitable work for at least 40 hours per week or one shift per day, if their work is shift based.
To better reflect the current workforce and economy, the department has put into effect a new temporary rule to expand eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits for people who may have barriers preventing them from returning to their work, such as caring for a sick family member or a lack of child care.
Under the temporary rule, people in these circumstances may still be eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits if they are available to accept work at least one shift per day or 40 hours per week. This may require people to seek a different type of job, but one they have the skills and experience to do.
The department has scheduled six listening sessions for businesses, workers, community organizations, and others to give feedback on these new temporary rules before any permanent changes are made to the availability rule. Listening session dates and times are posted on the unemployment.oregon.gov webinar page. Simultaneous interpretation will be available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian and Cantonese.
There are two possible benefits with this change. First, it may help provide economic stability to local communities where there is a large number of people whose work schedules have been restricted by the pandemic, including those with underlying health conditions who may need to limit their exposure to COVID-19.
Second, it may provide workers, who are unemployed through no fault of their own, greater access to unemployment insurance (UI) benefits; replacing part of the worker’s lost income and helping people reenter the workforce in a sustainable way.
We are notifying claimants to make sure people know about this rule change. They may also visit our online Temporary Eligibility Rule FAQs for more information.
Deadline for Retroactive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Claims
The deadline to retroactively file online an initial claim or claim past weeks of benefits is 11:55 p.m., today, Oct. 6. Those needing assistance should use the online interactive tool.
Last week’s statistics
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Oct. 5, 2021 (Salem, OR) – The Oregon Employment Department is seeking public comment on a temporary rule and proposed changes to the permanent rule that expand eligibility to receive unemployment insurance benefits under certain circumstances.
Temporary rule OAR 471-030-0036 clarifies when workers are considered available to work and eligible to receive unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. It provides benefits for some workers who might have been denied under the pre-pandemic availability rules due to their limited work availability.
Under the temporary rule, a claimant must be available for suitable work for at least 40 hours per week or one shift per day, if their work is shift based, to maintain eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits.
This means, if someone has barriers preventing them from returning to their work – such as caring for a sick family member or a lack of child care – they may still be eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits if they are willing to seek an alternate type of work for which they are available at least one shift per day and 40 hours per week.
This proposed permanent rule change fulfills the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program’s purpose of replacing part of the income lost when workers become unemployed through no fault of their own in two ways.
First, it may help provide economic stability to local communities where there is a large number of people whose work schedules have been restricted by the pandemic, including those with underlying health conditions who may need to limit their exposure to COVID-19.
Second, it may provide workers, who are unemployed through no fault of their own, greater access to Unemployment Insurance benefits, replacing part of the worker’s lost income.
Listening Sessions
OED has scheduled six virtual listening sessions in October and November 2021 to hear what local communities, workers, businesses, and labor unions think about the temporary rule and proposed changes to the permanent rule. These listening sessions are being conducted before the formal rulemaking process will begin.
The listening sessions will be simultaneously translated into Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, and Cantonese.
The Statement of Need and Justification for the current temporary rule that is in effect, including proposed rule language are available on the OED website.
Listening session dates and times
Register to attend at unemployment.oregon.gov/webinars.
Worker-focused listening sessions
2:30 p.m., Thurs., Oct. 14
Noon, Tues., Oct. 26
6 p.m. Thurs., Nov. 9
Employer-focused listening sessions
6 p.m. Wed., Oct. 20
Noon Wed., Nov. 3
9 a.m. Thurs., Nov. 17
Please note that, although these sessions are each scheduled for 90 minutes, the session will end earlier if participation stops before the scheduled end time.
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Equal Opportunity program — auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Contact: 971-673-6400. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, call 711 Telecommunications Relay Services.
WHAT: Learn about apprenticeships and the benefits of applying for an apprenticeship. This event is open to the general public.
WHO: The Oregon Employment Department and Southern Oregon Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (SOJATC)
WHY: Apprenticeships lead to high-paying jobs, and there is a great demand for workers in construction fields.
WHEN: 9:30 – 10:15 a.m., Friday, Oct. 8, 2021
WHERE: These apprenticeships are in Jackson and Klamath counties. The virtual session is on Zoom and registration is required.
Questions: Contact .A.WORTHLEY@oregon.gov">Tyler Worthley, business and employment specialist at the Oregon Employment Department.
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Equal Opportunity program — auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Contact: 971-673-6400. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, call 711 Telecommunications Relay Services.
1 de octubre de 2021 (Salem, OR)-- En respuesta a la urgente necesidad de Oregon a nivel estatal de cubrir puestos de asistencia médica y el cuidado de la salud, el Departamento de Empleo de Oregon y WorkSource Oregon están organizando una feria de empleo virtual en todo el estado "Contratación de héroes en la asistencia médica" de 11:30 a.m. a 1 p.m., el miércoles 6 de octubre.
Con alrededor de 15.000 puestos vacantes en asistencia médica en todo el estado, el objetivo de la feria de empleo es cubrir vacantes en la asistencia médica directa y otros puestos que apoyan la industria del cuidado de la salud, como el servicio de alimentos, las instalaciones y la administración de empresas.
Hasta ahora, más de 30 empleadores se han inscrito para participar en este evento, y la feria de empleo se promociona a nivel nacional para reclutar personas que buscan empleo fuera de sus estados para los puestos vacantes de asistencia médica en Oregon.
WorkSource Oregon ayuda a conectar empleadores y solicitantes de empleo calificados(as) interesados(as) en el campo de la asistencia médica. El Departamento de Empleo de Oregon es una de las agencias asociadas de WorkSource Oregon.
WorkSource Oregon y sus socios ofrecen una variedad de programas y servicios para explorar como:
Las personas pueden registrarse para el evento virtual en línea y visitar la página de LinkedIn de WorkSource Oregon para esta feria de empleo y otros eventos de contratación con un enfoque en la asitencia médica.
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Programa de igualdad de oportunidades -- ayudas y servicios auxiliares disponibles a pedido y sin costo para personas con discapacidades. Contacto: 971-673-6400. Para las personas sordas o con problemas de audición, llame al 711 Telecommunications Relay Services.
Oct. 1, 2021 (Salem, OR)-- In response to Oregon’s urgent statewide need to fill health care positions, the Oregon Employment Department and WorkSource Oregon are hosting a statewide virtual job fair ‘Hiring Heroes in Health Care’ from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., Wed., Oct. 6.
With about 15,000 job vacancies in health care across the state, the goal of the job fair is to fill openings in direct health care and other positions that support the health care industry, like food service, facilities and business administration.
So far, more than 30 employers have signed up to participate in this event, and the job fair is being marketed nationally to recruit out-of-state job seekers to Oregon healthcare open positions.
WorkSource Oregon helps connect employers and qualified job-seekers interested in the health care field. The Oregon Employment Department is one of WorkSource Oregon’s partner agencies.
WorkSource Oregon and its partners offer an array of programs and services to explore like:
People can register for the virtual event online and visit the WorkSource Oregon LinkedIn page for this job fair and other hiring events with a focus on health care.
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Equal Opportunity program — auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Contact: 971-673-6400. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, call 711 Telecommunications Relay Services.
WHO: David Gerstenfeld, Acting Director, Oregon Employment Department and Gail Krumenauer, State Employment Economist
WHEN: Wednesday, 1 p.m. PST Sept. 29, 2021.
WHAT: The Oregon Employment Department is hosting a video-conference media briefing to share updates on economic and workforce-related trends, employment services, unemployment claims processing, claimant resources and more.
WHERE: Via Zoom video conference: Members of the media must RSVP by emailing OED_Communications@oregon.gov by 12 p.m. PT on Wed., Sept. 29. Video conference information will be provided to all reporters who RSVP. RSVPs must indicate if the reporter wants to ask a question of the presenters.
OTHER: The Oregon Employment Department is updating a claims processing progress data dashboard weekly. Visit this link for weekday updates. After the briefing concludes, a recording of the video conference will be emailed to reporters who RSVP’d.
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Equal Opportunity program — auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Contact: (503) 983-2366. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, call 711 Telecommunications Relay Services.
Our next media briefing is scheduled for 1 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 29.
Yesterday, the Employment Department released the jobs numbers and unemployment rates for Oregon’s counties and metropolitan areas in August.
Oregon’s eight metropolitan areas have collectively regained three out of five (or 62%) of the jobs lost during the pandemic recession. Salem and Albany rank the highest among metropolitan areas. They’ve each regained nine out of 10 jobs lost in spring 2020.
Portland, Eugene and Corvallis are further from a full jobs recovery. Each of these metropolitan areas have regained about two-thirds of the jobs lost during the recession.
Within the Portland metro area, Multnomah County in particular has struggled to recover jobs. Less than half the jobs lost during the recession were regained by August. This is meaningful for Oregon’s overall recovery, as Multnomah has the most jobs of any county in Oregon and also the largest deficit to get back to its February 2020 employment level.
Oregon’s rural areas continue to outpace metro areas in this recovery. Taken together, Oregon’s 23 rural counties have regained three out of four jobs (75%) lost in the COVID recession. Wallowa, Crook, and Harney counties each had more total nonfarm jobs in August than they did before the pandemic recession.
The Employment Department continues to focus on helping people find jobs or new careers and employers find talented workers with our Back To Work Campaign in partnership with WorkSource Oregon.
There is an ongoing and urgent statewide need to fill health care and other positions that support the health care industry, like food service, facilities and business administration.
The Employment Department is reaching out to claimants with health care experience to let them know about job openings in their field. Our first health care hiring event is at the Clackamas Town Center today, Wed., Sept. 22.
As part of the Governor’s health care initiative, the Employment Department has also scheduled a statewide virtual Hiring Heroes for Health care event from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Wed., Oct. 6, so job seekers can explore career opportunities and meet employers hiring across Oregon. People can register for the virtual event online and visit our LinkedIn page for details.
All WorkSource Oregon events will follow the state and CDC guidance to make sure everyone is safe during these events. To ensure the safety of our visitors and employees and prevent further spread of COVID-19, all customers and employees must wear masks.
The new online scheduling tool is live in Spanish and English! People can go to WorkSource.org and click on the Contact button for either language page. The tool has options to schedule virtual and in-person appointments with an employment specialist at one of the WorkSource Oregon (WSO) centers throughout the state. Job seekers can also schedule time to use a WorkSource Oregon computer for job search activities. Translation work is in progress to make the new scheduling tool available in all 12 languages that we are making available on the WorkSource site.
People filing new claims must complete a one-on-one orientation to receive their benefits, and they can this tool to schedule this required orientation.
PFMLI will conduct a Rules Advisory Committee (RAC) meeting from 9 a.m. – noon on Wed., Sept. 29, to review the first batch of PFMLI's administrative rules. This meeting is open to the public and gives people an opportunity to provide input and offer suggestions on the proposed rules. These “batch one rules” are available for review our website.
The first batch of PFMLI rules relate specifically to wages, contributions, employer size, assistance grants, equivalent plans, self-employed and the agency’s outreach plan. The RAC meeting is one of many opportunities the public will have to provide comments on these proposed rules throughout the rulemaking process.
Starting this Sunday, Sept. 26, OED is resuming able and available to work requirements for people claiming unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. This means people filing for initial and weekly claims for benefits must be able to work and available for suitable work for at least 40 hours per week OR one shift, if their work is shift based.
Being able to work and available for work were both requirement for receiving UI benefits before the pandemic; however, there is a new temporary rule in place that applies to the available to work requirement. Under the new rule, if someone has barriers preventing them from returning to their work, they may still be eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits if they are willing to seek an alternate type of work for which they are available at least one shift per day and 40 hours per week.
With this change to availability requirements, the rule will better reflect the current workforce and economy. Some people who would have otherwise been denied benefits as a result of a limited availability would be able to receive them under the temporary rule changes. This change also may help provide economic stability to local communities where there are a large number of people whose work schedules have been restricted, including individuals with underlying conditions who may need to limit their exposure to COVID-19.
OED is notifying claimants to make sure people know about this rule change. They also may visit our online Temporary Eligibility Rule FAQs for more information. The department is scheduling six listening sessions for business, labor, community organizations and others to give us feedback on these new temporary rules before we work on permanent availability rule changes. Simultaneous interpretation will be available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian and Cantonese. Listening session dates and times will be posted on our webinar page.
The Employment Department previously reported that, when the federal pandemic-related unemployment benefits expired over Labor Day weekend, as many as 81,000 people could see their Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits end in Oregon. Here is some more information about how this is impacting the people of Oregon.
OED has identified geographic information for nearly 78,000 of the 81,000 people – 46,500 who were receiving Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits in Oregon and 31,500 who were receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits.
Statewide, those with Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits ending made up about 2% of the labor force. By county, the highest share of the labor force losing PEUC benefits (3% in each) occurred in Curry, Josephine, Lincoln, and Multnomah counties.
Those with Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits ending also made up another 2% of the state’s labor force. By county, the highest share of the labor force with PUA benefits ending (3% in each) occurred in Coos, Curry, and Josephine counties.
In addition to geographic impact, OED found that the end of the federal pandemic unemployment programs also had slightly more impact on women than on men. Prior to the pandemic, women made up 47% of the state’s labor force. As the PEUC benefits expired, women comprised 52% of those claims. Women also had a slight majority (51%) of PUA claims as the program drew to a close.
The PUA program expired September 4, 2021; however, people have until Oct. 6 to file their initial claim for benefits and to file for retroactive weeks. This only applies to people who have a COVID-19 impact reason for being unemployed prior to Sep. 4, 2021. We encourage people to file using the Online Claim System. After Oct. 6, no one can make any changes or backdate weeks of a PUA claim.
At next week’s media briefing, OED will present the new dashboard tool that will reflect that pandemic-related benefit programs have expired and highlight other Employment Department activities.
OED has promised throughout the pandemic to be transparent. Current data show that more than 94 percent of Contact Us inquiries are now resolved within seven days. The department is experiencing a delay with its call data information reporting and hopes to provide an update on call wait times during our next media briefing.
OED paid $10.9 billion in benefits to more than 617,000 people from March 15, 2020 – Sept. 21, 2021. This is the last week OED will report on this data in the media briefing; however, this information will still be available upon request.
Last week, we paid approximately $29 million to more than 32,000 people. Detailed information is on the media dashboard.
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Equal Opportunity program — auxiliary aids and services available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Contact: 971-673-6400. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, call 711 Telecommunications Relay Services.