PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon has overpaid nearly $400 million in unemployment benefits.
That’s according to an analysis by the U.S. Department of labor. The Oregonian reports (http://bit.ly/w14axC) the overpayment represents about 12 percent of the $3.5 billion paid in benefits during the three years that ended in June.
Some of the money was paid before the Oregon Employment Department determined a recipient was ineligible for benefits. But other checks went to people who fraudulently collected unemployment without looking for work, or who found a job and continued claiming benefits.
Either way, Oregon officials aim to recover the money, which originates from employers, not individual taxpayers. But they say fraud cases have swamped the Employment Department, where caseloads at one point reached 400 per investigator, up from 150 before the recession.
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Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
