OKLAHOMA CITY — The number of people out of work in Oklahoma has been creeping up for three consecutive months but remained relatively low in the closing weeks of December.
In Oklahoma, first-time claims filed the week of Dec. 24 numbered 1,452, which was 34 fewer than were filed the previous week. In comparison, an average of 2,029 initial unemployment claims were filed during the first 10 weeks of 2020 prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in Oklahoma and the collapse in the oil patch.
The number of continuing claims filed in Oklahoma the week of Dec. 24 totaled 5,606, a 44% decline from the 10,095 continuing claims filed the week of Dec. 17, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
A light day of trading on Wall Street ended Dec. 29 with “a broad rally for stocks as investors welcomed new jobless benefits data” that showed the U.S. labor market remained strong, The Associated Press reported.
The labor market has been one of the stronger areas of the economy. “So far, the level of jobless claims remains quite low,” the AP wrote, “evidence that Americans are enjoying a high degree of job security.”
The Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central bank, is seeking to slow job growth and the pace of wage increases as part of its efforts to battle inflation. The Fed’s Board of Governors hiked rates seven times in 2022, which has made it more expensive for consumers to take out mortgage and auto loans and raised borrowing rates for credit cards.
Nevertheless, the interest rate increases have had only a limited impact on hiring. Employers added 263,000 jobs in November, a healthy gain, and the unemployment rate nationally remained at 3.7%.
According to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, unemployment rates in Oklahoma counties in November were:
• Comanche, 3.5%.
• Cotton, 3.2%.
• Stephens, 3.4%.
• Tillman, 4.0%.
• Jackson, 2.7%.
• Kiowa, 3.0%.
• Caddo, 3.3%.
• Jefferson, 2.9%.
• Grady, 2.8%.
• Harmon, 2.8%.
• Greer, 3.5%.
• Oklahoma, 2.9%.
• Tulsa, 2.9%.
• Payne, 2.6%.
• Pawnee, 3.5%.
• Cimarron, 1.4%.
• Latimer, 6.2%.
Statewide, Oklahoma’s overall unemployment rate in November was 3.4%.