Jobs report

Unemployment percentages are down year over year in all four of Oklahoma’s major metropolitan areas.

Oklahoma’s economy continues to grow, data released on Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission showed.

In year-over-year comparisons for May, unemployment percentages were down in each of the Sooner State’s four major metropolitan areas, with all but one showing they had added jobs during that time.

Unemployment percentages also were lower in a year-to-year comparison throughout Oklahoma’s rural areas, with drops recorded in 75 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties.

In the other two counties, rates were unchanged.

Lynn Gray, director of economic research and analysis at the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, said the localized data released Wednesday shows continued evidence the state’s economy is continuing to strengthen.

He said Oklahoma continues to see a growing labor force that includes more younger people and more prime-age workers who are between 25 and 54 years of age.

There also has been a decline in the numbers of people who are unemployed because they lost or quit their jobs.

Data also suggests those unemployed this May were more likely to be so because they are new to the area or have re-entered the labor force after a long absence.

Meanwhile, it also shows the mean duration of unemployment has dropped from 22.2 weeks to 19.5. A year ago, 13,600 Oklahomans reported they had been unemployed for more than 12 months. This year, the number is down to 7,200.

“The data shows we are seeing a strengthening economy still, in most ways we would want to measure it,” Gray said.

“We are seeing a stronger, more robust labor market,” Gray said. “There are higher wages, increased employment and decreased unemployment.”

As for metro-specific numbers, comparing May 2017 to May 2018, the report reflects the following:

• A survey of businesses estimates the number of jobs in Lawton climbed by 100 to 46,000. Another survey that estimates unemployment based on interviews with residents reports unemployment fell from 4.5 to 4.3 percent.

• The estimated number of jobs in Oklahoma City grew by 13,500 to 647,900, while unemployment fell from 4 to 3.6 percent.

• The estimated number of jobs in Tulsa grew by 12,700 to 460,300, while unemployment fell from 4.6 to 3.9 percent.

• The estimated number of jobs in Enid fell by 600 to 25,400, while unemployment fell from 4.1 to 3.6 percent.

[PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN] Year-to-year comparison data released Wednesday by the state and federal governments shows jobs were added and unemployment declined in Oklahoma’s metropolitan areas including Oklahoma City, where this streetcar was being tested earlier this month.