Oregon Workshare: 60% of Workshare UI Claims Were From Public Employees.

I’m pleased to report that the Oregon Employment Department has responded to my public record request with a snapshot of private and public employees who are participating in Workshare.
 
March 15-June 27
From March 15-June 27 the OED breakout shows that 60% (22,443 ) of the total 37,522 Workshare claims were public employee claims. The average number of claimants per public agency was 264, while the average number of claimants per private employer was much lower at 12. 

My Updated Projections Through July 11
DOL records show that Oregon Workshare continuing claims have increased from 28,498 from the week ending June 27 to 51,173 as of July 11.  

So, if the OED reported 60% public employee percentage distribution as of June 27 held, the data in the latest DOL report would mean that the total number of public agency employee Workshare continuing claims is now 30,704. Given the recent large spike in claims if the public agency share during the spike was greater than 60%, than the total public agency percentage and counts would be higher than 60% and 30,704.

Because the total number of Oregon state and local employees is close to 250,000, a total of 30,000 public agency Workshare continuing claims would represent about 12% of total Oregon state and local government employment, which is close to the overall Oregon insured unemployment rate. 

NOTE:
If the $600 UI supplement expires on July 25 as scheduled, or if it is not renewed at some level, there could be a rapid and significant drop off in all continuing claims, including Workshare claims at public agencies. 

Conversely, as I pointed out in my recent post, IF the UI supplement and supplement expiration date are extended and IF the Workshare Dec 31st expiration date is also extended, this could provide an important tool to help Oregon state and local governments reduce their wage expenses in a challenging budget environment (as Workshare is 100% federally funded).


Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.