The U.S. labor market bounced back in September, adding 254,000 jobs. That number exceeded forecasts and was the strongest monthly gain since March.
The Federal Reserve, the nation’s central bank, approved its first rate cut since 2020 last month. The Fed’s half-apoint reduction placed its current policy rate in the range of 4.75%5.00%.
Also, the unemployment rate nationally slipped from 4.2% in August to 4.1% in September. Oklahoma’s most recent jobless rate was 3.4%.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported that first-time claims for unemployment benefits in Oklahoma the week ending Sept. 28 numbered 1,349, an increase of 157 from the week ending Sept. 21. The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission reported 1,177 first-time unemployment claims were filed the week of Sept. 14.
According to the DOL, the number of continuing claims for jobless benefits in Oklahoma the week of Sept. 28 totaled 9,100, which was 455 fewer than were logged the week of Sept. 21, and 654 fewer than were recorded the week of Sept. 14.
Nationally, the labor market is expected to experience some turbulence because of three major disruptions recently.
Hurricane Helene devastated large swathes of the U.S. Southeast last week; 33,000 Boeing machinists on the West Coast went on strike after losing their health insurance; and approximately 45,000 dockworkers initiated a work stoppage Oct. 1 at 14 major ports along the East and Gulf coasts for the first time in almost 50 years, halting container traffic from Maine to Texas, but returned to work Oct. 5 on the basis of a tentative agreement.