More jobs were lost in October in Oklahoma and that includes those in the state’s energy sectors according to the latest report from the state.
The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission announced the October unemployment rate reached 6.1% in October, up from the 5.4% reported in September. The October rate was also higher than the 2.7% jobless rate reported for October 2019.
At least 114,419 Oklahomans were unemployed during the month out of a labor force of 1,871,865 workers. Nationally, the October jobless rate declined to 6.9%.
Oklahoma’s highest jobless rate was in May of this year when it soared to 12.6%. It managed to fall to 5.7% in August and 5.4% in September but rose again in October.
The state’s oil and gas sector, which falls under the Mining and Logging classification used by the state showed 33,000 workers in October, down from the 33,400 reported in September and far below the 45,300 reported in October of 2019.
The loss of 400 jobs in October was a decline of 1.2% and the drop of 12,300 jobs from a year ago amounted to 27.2%.