— Elaine Wefer clearly remembers her last working day: Jan. 6, 2009.

“I had a job at Walmart as a packager and working in the bakery,” Wefer said. “I was there for five years.”

More jobless people are in line for government help that ever before, according to officials. The news about unemployment in Muskogee County is at least as alarming as it has been since 2004.

That’s important to the employed as well as the unemployed. Programs for the jobless are paid for out of the same state and federal government budgets that funds other services.

People continue to lose their jobs as the recession that began in December of 2007 continues. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects June will show 8.3 percent unemployment for the county. That’s more than twice the percentage from April of 2008 (3.6 percent).

Wefer, of Wagoner, arrived an hour early for her appointment this week at Muskogee’s Workforce Oklahoma office. She remembers how much help she has received from employees at Workforce Oklahoma.

“A lady showed me how to make a resume,” she said. “Then she talked to me about part-time work for people over 55. She was real helpful. I had been really discouraged.”

Wefer, 66, said the free advice there hasn’t resulted in a job yet.

“I’ve been so many places,” she said. “But, so many were part-time jobs. I want a full-time job. But I just saw their listings for housekeepers and things like that. They want younger people.”

Her unemployment checks were $200 per week. After six months the money ran out. She said she was then placed on a “second tier” that extended her benefits for a while.

“At the end of June, I didn’t qualify to get any more from Workforce,” she said. “My husband Arlie and I are both on Social Security. We just barely get by. Usually, the first $100 is already gone. It’s the little things like milk or gas. We’re not very lucky. I won’t be surprised if I don’t get any more.”

Mike Jackson, area director of the Muskogee County Department of Human Services, said he and his staff are seeing a significant increase in people applying for services.

“Over the course of the last nine months or so, it’s really been a dramatic increase,” he said. “The number of people on SoonerCare has also continued to go up.”

Jackson said jobless people with families are especially hard hit. While the number of people who are unemployed has continued to rise or stay the same, the number of people applying for health care for their children continues to rise.

The nature of available jobs isn’t helping.

“We have a large number of jobs in the community that are temporary jobs that often don’t have any fringe benefits,” he said. “When there are no fringe benefits, people end up coming to DHS to apply for those services.”

In addition to DHS applicants, Jackson points to one more red flag: food stamps.

“Often times, when you’re talking about food stamps, you’re talking about the ‘working poor’; the people who are doing the best they can with what they’ve got,” he said. “What we were paying for food stamps in February of this year was $1.9 million. We were giving $1.3 million a month in July of ‘09.”

That’s about a $600,000 increase from July 2009 to February 2010.

“I would anticipate Muskogee County paying out over $2 million a month in food stamps some time this year,” he said. “That’s directly related to the unemployment issue; people don’t have jobs and they’re having to come in here and make application for food stamps in order to take care of their families.”

Jackson said what’s happening in Muskogee County is reflected across the state.

“It’s the largest increase the state has ever experienced as far as food stamp costs are concerned,” he said. “Those funds come from the federal government, but it begins to drag down all of the services. I don’t know how long the state will be able to continue.”

Statistics show the number of people on SoonerCare has gone from 9,819 of July of 2008 to 217,340 in July of 2009. SoonerCare Choice is the name for the state’s Medicaid program.

Patty Garner, manager of the Muskogee Workforce Oklahoma office, said her staff has responded by adding more workshops.

“We try to provide any services that we can,” she said. “We have tried to implement things that we felt like would benefit people from all types of industry, be it white collar or blue collar types of jobs. We certainly want to assist people in going back to work. We’re doing anything we can come up with ways to assist the customer.”

With 20 years of experience, Garner said she has seen tough times once before.

“Several years ago we faced double-digit unemployment, but this is a little bit different than what we’ve seen,” she said. “We’re looking at any avenue that will help them get back to work.”

Lynn Gray, chief economist and employment statistics director with the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, said the reasons people are unemployed are similar for both the state and the nation.

“Sixty-two and 1/2 percent have lost their job, 6.2 percent were job leavers who left their last job voluntarily, a little over 23 percent were re-entrants to the labor market,” he said. “These were folks who at one point had been in the labor force, had left for some reason, and now are coming back looking for a job. Then you’ve got 8.1 percent who are new entrants to the labor market; typically recent college grads.”

Ten sectors of the state economy have gone in very different directions.

“You can see how the employment numbers changed since December of 2007; that’s when the index (of OESC statistics) was set at ‘1,’” he said. “Education and health care, and government, have almost the entire time stayed fairly stable and have seen some modest growth.”

Gray said other sectors are mining, construction, manufacturing, trade/transportation/utilities, finance, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and “other services.” With the exception mining (oil and gas), the other sectors continue to suffer.

Reach Keith Purtell at 684-2925 or kpurtell @muskogeephoenix.com.