State jobless rate soars to 13.7%, its highest jump in decade

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  • File illustration by Bryan M. Richter, Jobless rates in Oklahoma soar
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OKLAHOMA CITY – The jobless rate in Oklahoma shot up almost 11 percentage points in one month, from 2.9% in March to 13.7% in April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was the biggest one-month increase and the highest unemployment rate in at least a decade if not longer, BLS records indicate.

In a related matter, the Oklahoma Policy Institute estimated that 93,000 Oklahomans would be uninsured if the unemployment rate reaches 15%.

The number of jobless claims filed with the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) for the week ending May 16 were lower than the week before but remain high compared to the pre-COVID-19 and energy industry crises, said Cyndi Phillips, OESC chief of staff. 

Unadjusted initial unemployment claims in Oklahoma for the week ending May 16 totaled 23,880, a decline from the 39,079 adjusted number the previous week, Phillips said.

From March 15 through May 9 the OESC fielded an unprecedented wave of 423,225 claims for unemployment benefits, the agency’s public information officer Trey Davis said.

The number of Oklahomans who are out of work increased by almost 189,000 in April, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Oklahoma’s professional and business services sector lost 21,700 jobs last month; trade, transportation and utilities sector, 18,500 jobs; education and health services, 11,200; government, 10,200 jobs; manufacturing, 5,400; and construction, 4,600.

Interestingly, the information and financial activities sectors held steady; the former had no significant job losses and the latter gained approximately 300 jobs, the BLS reported.

The mining and logging sector, which includes oil and gas exploration/production, lost 11,500 jobs over the past 12 months, a 22.6% decline, BLS records show.

The leisure and hospitality sector has taken the greatest hit, shedding 58,700 jobs in the last three months as travel came to a near standstill because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest layoffs include more than 50 at Comanche County Memorial Hospital, through reductions, attrition, and shifting employees into previously vacant positions. The Dillard’s store in Lawton’s Central Mall is closing, costing the jobs of an unknown number of employees. Lyric Theatre in Oklahoma City laid off 15 of its 24 employees last Friday. And Triumph Aerospace Structures announced last week it will shutter its Tulsa plant and lay off 225 workers. 

BLS records show that Oklahoma’s labor force participation rate declined during the past decade: from 62.4% in April 2010 to 58.1% in April 2020. Nationally the labor force participation rate in April decreased to 60.2%, the lowest rate since January 1973, the BLS reported.

The BLS announced that total nonfarm payroll employment nationwide fell by 20.5 million in April, and 23.1 million Americans were out of work in April. Joblessness increased in every state.

The national unemployment rate rose 10.3% in April, to 14.7%. It was the largest month-over-month increase and the highest rate in the history of BLS records extending back to 1948.