Jobless rates in September improved across Oklahoma, slipping in 71 of the state’s 77 counties according to the latest employment report from the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. But oil and gas employment fell in the state’s two major cities.
Rates rose in five counties and were unchanged in one county compared to one year ago.
While Oklahoma City saw its overall unemployment rate improve from 4.3% in August to 3.9% in September, it also reported a loss of workers in the Mining, Logging and Construction sector which includes those in the oil and gas industry.
The sector saw a loss of 700 workers from August 2017 to September, going from 45,000 in August to 44,300 in September. That’s a drop of 1.6%. Compared to September of 2016, the loss was only 400 workers because employment in the sector more than a year ago totaled 44,700.
Tulsa saw a loss of 200 workers in the oil and gas sector, going from 29,100 in August to 28,900 in September, a drop of 0.7%. A year ago, Tulsa had 29,100 workers employed in oil and gas. Tulsa’s overall employment improved from 5.0% in August to 4.6% in September.
