Oklahoma added 47,400 jobs in 2022 and ended the year with an unemployment rate lower than the national mark.
Non-farm payrolls, seasonally adjusted, increased from 1,655,200 in December 2021 to 1,702,600 in December 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Statewide, employment in the various categories as recorded by BLS included:
• Construction: 79,800 at year’s end 2022, an increase of 3,400 from the same period in 2021.
• Manufacturing: 134,600, a year-over-year increase of 5,000 jobs.
• Trade, transportation and utilities (the largest non-government sector): 327,000, an increase of nearly 10,000 jobs in 12 months.
• Financial activities: 81,800, an increase of 3,200 jobs from December 2021.
• Professional and business services: 193,900, growth of 1,400 jobs year-over-year.
• Leisure and hospitality: 179,200, an increase of 1,100 jobs during the year.
• Education and health services: 242,200, an increase of 6,700 jobs.
• Government: 350,400, an increase of 5,000 jobs during the year.
Nationally, the job market proved resilient. According to the Associated Press, employers added 4.5 million jobs last year, second only to the 6.7 million created in 2021, government records extending back to 1940 reflect.
The average hourly wage among all employees in Oklahoma on Dec. 31, 2022, was $26.95, the BLS calculated. That compared with $25.37 on Dec. 31. 2021, and $23.53 on Dec. 31, 2018.
A state executive announced recently that the Sooner State economy grew at a 5.5% clip during the second quarter of last year, the third fastest rate in the nation during that period.
The only states that outpaced Oklahoma’s gross domestic product during that period were Alaska, which had the highest GDP growth at 8.8%, and Texas, with the second highest GDP growth at 8.5%, said Chad Mariska, Oklahoma secretary of commerce and workforce development.
Unemployment rate remains at 3.4%
The state unemployment rate has climbed from 2.6% last February but held steady at 3.4% from October through December 2022, a notch below the national year-end rate of 3.5% -- which matched a 53-year low.
First-time unemployment claims filed in Oklahoma during the week of Jan. 21 totaled 1,142; that was 340 fewer than the week before, the U.S. Department of Labor announced. Continuing claims for jobless benefits numbered 10,283, a decrease of 200 from the previous week, the DOL reported.
In December, the state’s civilian labor force numbered 1.883 million and the employment count stood at 1.819 million, the BLS reported. Thus, the total number of unemployed individuals was reported at 63,636.
Lynn Gray, director and chief economist of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission’s Department of Economic Research and Analysis, said the total unemployment figure includes three categories of potential workers.
One group consists of those who quit voluntarily, of their own accord, and wouldn’t be eligible for unemployment benefits.
The second group is comprised of workers who lost their jobs through involuntary separations, such as layoffs. “Most likely” they qualify for state unemployment benefits, Gray said.
In the third group are new entrants into the labor force, such as high school graduates and older citizens who may have been retired for a while and decided to rejoin the work force.
“When they started actively looking for a job, they were deemed to be unemployed,” Gray said.
Job vacancies exceed
potential applicants
The state labor market remains tight. As of November, the BLS reported 132,000 job vacancies in Oklahoma – two openings for every person in this state considered to be unemployed.
Small companies were responsible for all of the net job growth in the U.S. since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and accounted for almost four out of five available job openings, the Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 25 after reviewing national labor data.
A survey commissioned by Express Employment Professionals and performed by The Harris Poll revealed that hiring managers worry about increased competition in the job market (35%), the available talent pool not matching the company’s requirements (29%), reaching diverse candidates (23%) and difficulty assessing each candidate’s skills during the hiring process (23%).
Three in 10 of the 1,003 hiring managers surveyed said the continuing labor shortage (29%), increases in employee turnover (28%), greater demand from candidates for better wages and/or benefits in order to accept a job offer (27%), and inability to fill open positions (27%) are concerns that cause them sleepless nights.
Many hiring managers (42% of those who were contacted) said their company has open positions now that they cannot fill because of a lack of applicants. This includes applicants with hard skills (39%), soft skills (36%) and/or applicants in general (34%).
Other concerns cited were market uncertainty, supply chain issues, low labor force participation, a growing number of retirements, labor costs, inflation and a potential economic downturn.