OKLAHOMA CITY — State and national unemployment rates remain exceptionally low, and employers continue to hire at a blistering pace, despite persistent attempts by the Federal Reserve to throttle the U.S. economy.
In Oklahoma, first-time claims for unemployment filed the week of Jan. 28 totaled 1,204, the U.S. Department of Labor reported. That number was 11 fewer than the 1,215 initial claims filed the week of Jan. 21, which was 267 fewer than the week before that.
Initial unemployment claims averaged 1,910 per week in 2022, ledgers of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission reflect. The highest number of first-time claims filed last year was 3,976 during the week of Aug. 13, and the lowest was 931 claims filed the week of Nov. 12.
The unadjusted number of continuing jobless claims filed in Oklahoma during the week of Jan. 21 numbered 10,288, a decrease of 533 from the prior week, according to the OESC.
Nationally the unemployment rate edged down last month to 3.4% – the lowest rate in 53 years, since May 1969.
Employers added 4.5 million jobs in 2022 – an average of roughly 375,000 jobs each month throughout the year and the second-strongest number in 82 years, according to records dating back to 1940.
That pace was outdone in January, when employers added 517,000 jobs, nearly twice the number that were created in December.
January’s hiring gain was broad-based: 99,000 workers in restaurants and bars and 82,000 in professional and business services jobs. Governments added 74,000 employees, health care jobs grew by 58,000, retailers 30,000, construction 25,000 and manufacturing added 19,000 jobs.
In addition, labor force participation increased among workers between the ages of 25 and 54, U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said.
Nevertheless, the Labor Department reported last week that the job market remains tight. Employers posted 11 million job openings in December, approximately two job vacancies for every unemployed American.
The nation’s central bank, the Federal Reserve, has raised its benchmark interest rate eight times since last March – most recently by another 0.25% on Feb. 1, to 4.625% – in an attempt to rein in the job market and contain inflation.
The Fed hopes for a “soft landing” in which the economy cools just enough to tame inflation without triggering a recession.