Economic indicators keep shining
THE booming national economy is mirrored here in Oklahoma, where the jobless rate continues to fall and revenues to the state treasury continue to climb.
The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission reported Wednesday that the unemployment rate in August was lower than a year ago in every one of the state’s 77 counties. Rates ranged from a minuscule 1.8 percent in Grant County to 6.1 percent in Latimer County.
In Oklahoma County, the unemployment rate of 3.2 percent was 0.7 percentage points lower than August 2017. Tulsa County’s unemployment rate, 3.5 percent, compared with 4.5 percent a year earlier.
The statewide jobless rate in August was 3.7 percent.
Meantime, gross receipts to the state treasury increased by 14 percent in September. The $1.2 billion in gross receipts was the highest September total on record, according to Treasurer Ken Miller.
Compared with September 2017, increased collections were seen in every major revenue stream. Revenue from gross production taxes on oil and natural gas led the way, growing by 110 percent over the same month last year.
“Oklahoma’s economy continues to climb the expansion side of the business cycle,” Miller said. “As we saw last week with the ratings outlook upgrade from negative to stable by Moody’s Investors Service, the state’s economic and policy improvements are being noticed well beyond our borders.”
Here’s hoping the good news continues.
Another big year
Business remains very good for Oklahoma’s tribal casinos. A report this week from economist Alan Meister, who has tracked the industry for years, showed that Oklahoma Indian gaming revenue reached $4.36 billion in 2016, the most recent year for which figures are available. That’s an increase of about 5 percent from $4.15 billion in 2015. As part of their compacts with the state, tribes paid the state a record $133.9 million in exclusivity fees in fiscal year 2017. That total came from the roughly $2.2 billion in revenue generated from Class III electronic games and certain card games. Tribes don’t pay exclusivity fees for Class II (bingo and bingo style) games or Class I games. The report noted the number of Class II gaming machines has grown faster than Class III games the past three years. Don’t be surprised if this becomes a topic of conversation when the state negotiates new compacts with the tribes.
Don’t fall for it
The state Election Board is making it easier for Oklahomans to register to vote. But the agency wants citizens to know that doing so by phone is not one of the available options. The Election Board issued an alert this week regarding a possible scam, going on across the country, in which people receive phone calls offering to help them register or even vote by telephone. “Voters cannot be registered over the phone,” Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax stressed. “Neither election officials nor legitimate voter advocacy groups will ever offer to register you to vote or send you absentee ballots based solely on a phone conversation.” The agency’s website, www.elections.ok.gov, provides information about how to register to vote. Meantime, if someone calls and offers to help you do so, you’re asked to report it to the Election Board at (405) 521-2391.
A topic to avoid
Some critics claim U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s consumption of alcohol as a teenager and in college makes him unqualified to serve as a judge now, decades later. President Trump defended Kavanaugh, noting many people drink too much when young. Trump added, to laughter, “I can honestly say I never had a beer in my life. It’s one of my only good traits.” Online, this prompted some extreme leftwingers to declare Adolph Hitler was a teetotaler too. Thus, to the extreme left, if you ever drank beer in college, you can never be placed in a position of authority. But if you don’t drink beer, you’re the equivalent of history’s greatest monster. This week was the first in which Oklahomans could buy wine at grocery stores. Apparently, citizens who welcomed this change should avoid discussing the topic with liberal acquaintances.
Sahara study
Whenever climate change is discussed, economic progress is often linked to environmental destruction. New research from a team of geographers and archaeologists at University College London and King’s College London undermines this image. The researchers reviewed the long-ago period when the Sahara went from being a “green” ecosystem supporting huntergatherers to a desert. They concluded man’s impact may have been beneficial. Lead author Chris Brierley said, “We contest the common narrative that past human-environment interactions must always be one of over-exploitation and degradation. The fact that societies practicing ‘pastoralism’ persisted in this region for so long and invested both economically and ideologically in the local landscape, does not support the scenario of over-exploitation. Our study shows that increasing human population and sustainable pastoralism did not accelerate — and may even have delayed — the decline of the ‘Green Sahara’.” You mean people can have positive environmental impact? Imagine that.
Compared to Bill Clinton
In case you wondered if former President Bill Clinton had reached his “sell by” date with the Democratic Party he once led, there’s no doubt now. The American Civil Liberties Union recently aired ads opposing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by comparing him to … Bill Clinton (and Bill Cosby). Republicans can be forgiven for noting that Democrats only became concerned about the many allegations of sexual impropriety, assault and even rape lodged against Clinton after he was no longer politically useful to them. And while neither Kavanaugh nor Clinton has been convicted of any crimes, there’s also a notable difference in the allegations lodged against each man. Several of Clinton’s accusers were consistent in their allegations and told associates of the alleged attacks at the time. The stories of Kavanaugh’s accusers keep shifting and alleged witnesses, including friends of the accusers, have contradicted those stories.
One city’s poor ranking
Aside from the Legislature and the realm of politics, much news in Oklahoma has been positive for the past year as stronger economic growth and job creation have been recorded. But a recent ranking of 2018’s FastestGrowing Cities in America by the finance site WalletHub shows that not all corners of the state are faring equally well. In its report, WalletHub analysts tried to determine where the most rapid local economic growth occurred over a period of seven years. They examined 515 U.S. cities and relied on 15 key metrics that included population growth, college-educated population growth and unemployment rate decrease. Unfortunately, Lawton landed in the bottom 10, trailing Youngstown, Ohio, and barely edging out Erie, Pennsylvania. While Oklahomans have reason to feel good about the direction of the state’s private sector, there’s still much work to be done.