Stunning loss of 11,000 oil field jobs in Oklahoma since January 2019

 

Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry got some sobering news on Monday.  The number of jobs lost in the industry since January 2019 totaled at least 11,000 jobs.

Word came from the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission as it announced an improved statewide jobless rate of 3.3% for January 2020. The rate had lingered at 3.4% since October 2019 and improved at the start of the new year.

The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission said the drop in overall jobless numbers occurred while the nationwide rate moved up to 3.6% for the month. The number of unemployed in Oklahoma in January was 60,596 out of a labor force of 1,845,647.

But oil and gas numbers, those figured under the Mining and Logging sector showed a drop of 1,100 jobs from December 2019 to January 2020. The decline figured to be 2.6% for the month. As of January, employment stood at 42,000.

The loss in oil and field jobs since January 2019 was a dramatic 11,000 workers. At least 53,000 oil and gas industry jobs were reported in January 2019 and since then the loss has been 20.8%.

Statewide employment totaled 1,785,051, up from the 1,783,548 reported in December 2019. The number of people holding jobs in Oklahoma has been on the increase since August 2019.

The state indicated the statewide seasonally employment increased by 1,503 persons or 0.1% while unemployment decreased 1,386 persons or a decline of 2.2%.

Click here to view entire state report.

 

Source: Employment Security Commission