As jobless rates rose in April in 50 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties, more oil and gas workers were also laid off in the past month, according to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.
Classified in the Mining and Logging Sector, the number of energy workers dropped from 16,500 in March 2016 to 15,300 in April, or a loss of 1,200 employees. That is also a drop of 7.3% from month to month. Compared to April 2015, the latest figures show a decline of 4,100 workers over the past year or 21.1%.
Jobless figures for the state declined in 19 counties and were unchanged in 8 counties for the month of April.
While energy workers were taking it on the chin, those who had governments were not. The overall number of government workers, including federal, state, county and city, rose 0.2% from March to April, going from 130,300 in March to 130,500 in April. Compared to April of 2015, the number was up by 1,900 or 1.5%.
There were no declines in any of the government sectors. The number of federal workers rose 2.25 in the past year while the number of state workers increased 1.9%. The local government employment increased 0.7% in the past year.