New Unemployment Claims in Oregon Continue to Set All-Time Records

Hospitality and health care industries are among the hardest hit, preliminary data shows.

(Aaron Wessling)
By Nigel Jaquiss

The Oregon Employment Department today released numbers showing filings for unemployment benefits were 15 times greater last week than the week before.

"During the week of March 15, the Oregon Employment Department received more than 76,500 initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits," the agency said in a statement today.

"During the first three days of the week of March 22, initial claims have been tracking at record levels again. This comes as a sharp increase from 4,900 initial claims filed during the week of March 8."

The agency has been overwhelmed with new claims and encourages filers seeking benefits to fill out forms online rather than calling.

Here is a tutorial on how to file.

Here is the form to fill out to claim benefits.

The agency has not yet processed all the new claims but provided some information about which industries are feeling the most pain.

"Of the 76,500 initial claims filed, the Employment Department has detailed information for the 22,800 claims processed during the week," the agency said. "The leisure and hospitality sector, which includes hotels and restaurants, saw the greatest number of initial claims for unemployment benefits (10,700). This reflects some of the early impact of public health and safety measures. Many initial claims also came from workers in health care (2,100) and retail trade (1,400)."

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