State’s jobless rate drops but oil and gas industry employment remains flat in OKC and down in Tulsa

Just as the Oklahoma Energy Index reported a growing expansion of the state’s oil and gas industry this week, the state’s jobless rate also dropped in July.

And what’s different this time is that the rates dropped in every one of the 77 counties, according to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.  Latimer County had the highest rate at 6.7% while McIntosh County was second highest at 6.6% and McCurtain County was third at an even 6%.

Grant county in northern Oklahoma was lowest 2.1% followed by Beaver County at 2.2% and Cimarron County at 2.3% and Love County in southern Oklahoma was 2.3%.

Oklahoma City’s non-farm unemployment slipped to 2.8% as a result of employment going from 629,000 in July 2017 to 646,300 in July 2018. However, the oil and gas employment which is listed under the Mining, Logging and Construction category stayed flat.

July employment for the oil and gas industry stayed at 52,200, the same number reported in June 2018. But the employment was still better than the 48,200 reported in July 2017. The increase of 4,000 workers over the past year was 8.3%.

Tulsa’s oil and gas employment totaled 30,300 in July, a drop of 200 from June but still higher than the 29,600 reported in July of last year. The drop of 200 was 0.7% while the July to July increase was 700 or 2.4%.