Oklahoma Continues to Rank Third in the Nation for Lowest Unemployment
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) reports that initial claims, continued claims and both four-week moving averages decreased for the week ending Jan. 15. The agency also reported that the state’s unemployment rate declined to 2.3% for the month of December.
“For the third consecutive month, Oklahoma’s unemployment rate has continued to decline and we have again hit a historic low at 2.3%. Oklahoma’s recovery from the pandemic has been one of the fastest in the nation. Where other state’s economies have been sluggish, ours has had a record setting rebound,” said OESC Executive Director, Shelley Zumwalt. “As we continue to adjust to the ways in which the world and the workforce have changed after the disruption of the pandemic, state leaders are leaning into innovative approaches to support and recruit the dynamic workforce that is the backbone of our state’s thriving economy.”
Weekly Unemployment Numbers for Week Ending Jan. 15
- For the file week ending Jan. 15, the number of initial claims, unadjusted, totaled 2,240, a decrease of 520 from the previous week's level of 2,760.
- For the same file week, the less volatile initial claims’ four-week moving average was 2,147, a decrease of 119 from the previous week's average of 2,266.
- The number of continued claims totaled 13,020, a decrease of 1,157 from the previous week’s level of 14,177.
- Continued claims’ four-week moving average was 13,443, a decrease of 97 from the previous week's average of 13,540.
Nationally, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for the week ending Jan. 22 was 260,000, a decrease of 30,000 from the previous week's revised level, the U.S. Department of Labor (U.S. DOL) reports. The four-week moving average was 247,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week's revised average. For the week ending Jan. 15, the U.S. DOL reports the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2%, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.
The national weekly seasonally adjusted initial claims report is one of 10 components in the Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators. To smooth out the volatility in the weekly initial claims data, a four-week moving average is used to assess trends.
