Oklahoma’s latest jobless figures show only a slight drop in the state’s unemployment rate, dipping to 4.1 percent. It was a decline of one-tenth of a percent from November 2015 but also two-tenths of a percent more than in December of 2014.
The slight increase came about as the state’s oil and gas sector continued with its layoffs which now total nearly 12,000 in the past year, including the more than 260 laid off earlier this month by SandRidge Energy’s subsidiary, Lariat Services Inc. The number of unemployed in December in the state totaled 76,827, down from the 78,101 who were out of work and seeking employment in November 2015. The nearly 77,000 who were out of work in December represented a drop from the 83,899 who were jobless in July of 2015.
Oilfield layoffs fall under the Mining and Logging sector of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission’s tracking for its monthly employment reports. The sector listed 50,900 jobs as of December 2015, up from the 50,400 indicated in November 2015. But those numbers were far below the 63,100 listed in December of 2014.
It calculated to be a drop of 500 jobs from November 2015 to December 2015 or a one percent decline. However, from December 2014 to December 2015, the drop was 12,200 jobs or a decline of 19.3 percent.
