Unemployment rate holds steady

Business Writer ddishman@oklahoman.com

Oklahoma’s jobless rate held steady for the fifth straight month, and showed an improvement from this time last year.

Oklahoma’s January 2018 unemployment rate registered at 4.1 percent, the same it has been since September 2017.

That is an improvement of 0.5 percentage points relative to a year ago, when Oklahoma registered an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent.

The U.S. unemployment rate for January 2018 also measured 4.1 percent.

The labor force also showed improvement throughout the state relative to January 2017, according to Lynn Gray, Oklahoma Employment Security Commission Director of Economic Research and Analysis.

“Unemployment stood at 76,220 for the month,” Gray said. “This estimate is down about 10 percent from a year earlier when it was at 84,711. Employment is growing at a rate of 1.5 percent a year.”

The labor force in Oklahoma grew in the past month, as well as compared to a year ago. January 2018 estimates show a labor force of 1,842,333, with 1,766,113 employed and 76,220 unemployed.

In December 2017, the labor force was 1,841,801, with an employment of 1,765,566 and unemployment of 76,235. A year ago, the labor force measured 1,825,368, with an employment of 1,740,657 and unemployment of 84,711.

Over the past year, the mining industry, which includes energy, added 5,300 jobs for a 12 percent increase. Leisure and hospitality added 5,100 jobs for a 3.1 percent increase, and manufacturing added 3,200 jobs for a 2.5 percent increase.

The only industry showing a large decline in jobs this past year was information, which lost about 1,000 jobs for a decrease of about 4.8 percent.