Oklahoma unemployment claims hit record high

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Oklahoma has set a new unemployment record amid the COVID-19 crisis.

“Unfortunately, our record here in the state was set back in 1991 with over 9,000 initial claims in one week; of course last week we almost doubled that,” said Robin Roberson, executive Director of the Oklahoma Employment Service Commission (OESC). "We will double last weeks again this week."

As a result, Roberson said their system is now buckling under the influx.

“The system that we use was built in 1987 and so we’re working on a 30 year old platform, which is not designed to handle this type of traffic,” Roberson said.

Some calls into their offices are also going unanswered due to the inundation.

"We had about 900 lines available and all of those maxed out,” Roberson explained.

Additional lines have since been activated, and Roberson says her staff is now working around the clock to try to meet the growing demand.

At the same time, they’re busy warding off a number of scams popping up.

"We have seen several websites that have popped up that are mimicking ours, and we’ve been able to get those removed. But I would just definitely make sure that people are aware that there are scammers and fraudsters, unfortunately, during times like this,” said Roberson.

OESC will never ask you for payment of any kind. And if someone calls you saying they’re with the agency, chances are they’re not.