Government Jobs Increase in Oklahoma While Energy Sector Sheds More Workers

New figures from the Oklahoma Department of Employment Security show the state’s jobless rate rose a tenth of a point, reaching 4.2 percent for February. The increase came as the nation’s jobless rate held steady at 4.9 percent. But the figures also show while private sectors are losing jobs, the government sector is adding jobs.

It translates into 77,719 Oklahomans out of work from a labor force of 1,861,902. More than 1,784,000 are employed. The number of unemployed rose from the 75,527 reported in January. In February of 2015, there were 75,753 Oklahomans out of work.

The state figures also reflect a loss of 12,900 in the Mining and Logging sector where the state’s oil and natural gas workers are classified. At least 900 jobs were lost from mid-January to mid-February of this year, according to the State. The loss of nearly 13,000 in the past year was a drop of 21.3 percent while the decline from January to February was a drop of 1.8 percent.

In February of 2015, Oklahoma had 138,700 workers in Mining and Logging. A year later, the number had dropped to 128,900 workers.

While energy workers were being trimmed from the workforce, government workers still kept their jobs. The number of federal government workers increased by 600 from February last year to February 2016, reaching a total of 47,300 federal employees in the state. The number of state workers fell by 0.5 percent, going from 85,700 in February of 2015 to 85,300 in February 2016. Local governments in the state added 2,000 jobs, an increase of 0.9 percent. That’s up from the statewide local government count of 218,100 a year ago in February.