May 1, 2020 3:25 a.m.
During the week of April 19th to April 25th, the Oregon Employment Department received 28,500 initial claims for unemployment benefits.
A release from OED said since public health and safety measures began the week starting March 15th, Oregon has received more than 362,200 initial claims for unemployment insurance.
The release said the department has processed three out of every four initial claims received between March 15th and April 25th and continues expanding its processing ability. The agency now has 610 employees dedicated to processing unemployment claims. A new contact center is expected to open later this month. Current contact centers have expanded call hours from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays, and are giving call-backs to those with unprocessed claims. The release said claims are being processed seven days a week.
After starting up the Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program and the newly created Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, the department is now working towards implementing the third piece of the CARES Act. The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program extends benefits for up to 13 weeks for those who have run out of benefits and remain out of work, due to the COVID-19 closures.
The greatest number of initial claims have continued to come from the accommodation and food services sector, with 5,100 received between April 19th and April 25th. Since March 15th, there have been about 59,600 initial claims filed in this industry.