Oklahoma’s employment number sagged more causing the state’s unemployment rate to increase by a tenth of a percentage point to reach 4.5 percent, according to recent numbers released by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.
The movement upward represented the fourth straight month of increases while the 4.5 percent rate was also two-tenths of a point higher than a year ago.
The state’s energy situation didn’t help matters any as the Mining and Logging Sector where oil and gas jobs are listed saw a loss of 2,200 jobs.
Economist Lynn Gray with the Commission said the loss means the industry has contracted by about 30 percent from its peak in Nov. 2014. Overall, the state lost 2,400 jobs in April, bringing the loss statewide since Feb. 2015 to more than 12,000 jobs.
Gray said the only area that saw improvement was Professional and Business Services where there was an increase of 1,500 in April.
Once again, government does not appear to be suffering compared to the private sector. The overall government number stood at 352,300 in April, an increase of 100 compared to March and a jump of 1,600 jobs since April 2015.
Federal workers totaled 47,200 in April, a drop of 300 from March but still 300 more than a year ago.
the number of State government workers totaled 85,300, same as in March and 200 fewer than a year ago, resulting in a decline of 0.2%.
The number of local government workers is 219,800 which is 400 more than in March and 1,500 more than in April 2015. That’s an increase of 0.7%.