Characteristics of the Covered Unemployed in September 2020
November 25, 2020 Since public health measures began to combat the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus, Oregon has seen an unprecedented and devastating impact on the economy. Along with the monthly employment and unemployment numbers, there is data available every month on the demographic composition of Unemployment Insurance claimants.The demographic data shown here comes from the Program for Measuring Insured Unemployed Statistics (PROMIS). The data does not provide detailed information for every continued claim that was filed during the month. The data are based on the universe of those who filed a continued claim for regular Unemployment Insurance in the week containing the 19th of the month, which reflects unemployment during the week of the 12th. This corresponds with the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey. This also corresponds to the monthly unemployment rate and employment figures. This data set also excludes non-Oregon residents and any claimants that had reported earnings during the reference week of the 12th. The purpose of the data below is to get an idea of who is unemployed and receiving Unemployment Insurance.
In the first three months of 2020, an average of 25,500 people filed a continued claim for Unemployment Insurance. In April, that number rose to about 194,500, remained at 194,000 in May, fell to 168,700 in June, 149,800 in July, 120,500 in August, and 97,800 in September. As would be expected, accommodation and food services has been the hardest hit industry during the crisis. In September 2020, this industry made up almost 19,000 of total continued claims. This represented 10.3 percent of second quarter 2019 employment in that industry. Arts, entertainment, and recreation was the next hardest hit industry. Museums, ski resorts, zoos, and other recreation companies have closed or seen their activity slowed. The administrative and support and waste management and remediation services industry, and the other services industry, which includes personal care services like fitness instructors, childcare workers, barbers/stylists, massage therapists, and pet groomers, was also hit significantly relative to its industry employment.




Although we do not know for sure the gender distribution of the “information not available” category, we can make some educated guesses about the gender of continued claimants. Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, women represent the majority of employed workers in many of the industries hardest hit by recent layoffs, including accommodation and food services (57%); health care and social assistance (76%); and other services (55%). Looking at the unemployment rate, the percentage of Oregonians who are unemployed, regardless of whether or not they are receiving unemployment insurance, women currently have a higher unemployment rate, at 9.3 percent in September and 7.9 percent in October. Men’s unemployment rate in September was 6.6 percent and it dropped to 5.9 percent in October. This is in stark contrast to the Great Recession, when men had a significantly higher unemployment rate than women.


