Backlogs of jobless claims now pandemic-era history, but effects of fraud still remain

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission has recovered from the pandemic, but harsh memories of its darkest days linger like a case of long COVID. Almost overnight, beginning in March 2020, the commission went from routinely processing an average of about 6,000 new claims for unemployment benefits per month to 200,000. Soaring filings continued through August of that year. During the worst of it, it wasn’t uncommon for overwhelmed OESC employees to get death threats from people either desperate to receive financial help or eager to bully their...