April 2, 2020 10:30 a.m.
During the week starting March 22nd, the Oregon Employment Department received 92,700 initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits.
A release from OED said that represented a 21 percent increase from the previous record which happened during the week beginning March 15th. By comparison, the agency received 4,900 initial claim filings during the week starting March 8th. The release said the Employment Department continues to take proactive steps to meet the unprecedented need for unemployment benefits, which is largely due to reduced hours and layoffs related to COVID-19.
Of the 45,800 claims processed during the week starting March 22nd, the leisure and hospitality sector, which includes restaurants and hotels, saw the greatest number of initial claims for unemployment benefits at 15,500.  7,600 claims came from workers in health care and social assistance while 4,600 came from retail trade.
In Douglas County, 954 people made initial claims for unemployment in the week ending March 28th. 385 initial claims were made the week ending March 21st. 104 initial claims were filed in the county, the week ending March 14th.
The release said over the past two weeks, the Employment Department doubled the number of staff dedicated to taking claims and is in the process of tripling it. Agency employees processing claims are doing so at a record rate, according to the release. Secure phone lines are being added to take more calls while protecting the personal information of those filing claims.
The Employment Department is encouraging anyone who can file a claim online to do so. The release said the website has a video with step-by-step instructions for filing online claims specific to the COVID-19 situation. That site is: https://secure.emp.state.or.us/ocs4/index.cfm?u=F20200324A152211B60880938.0174&lang=E