OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) reports that initial claims, continued claims, and both four-week moving averages declined for the week ending Feb. 19.
“Oklahoma continues to report low unemployment numbers week after week, demonstrating our economic strength,” said Shelley Zumwalt, OESC Executive Director. “The agency continues to focus on helping claimants find high-quality employment opportunities. We have programs in place for a wide variety of groups to assist Oklahomans with developing new skills and re-entering the workforce. For example, we have Veteran Employment Services that pairs OESC employees who are former service members with veterans to help them transition from the military to the civilian workforce. Unemployed veterans are highly encouraged to take advantage of this program by visiting https://oklahoma.gov/oesc/veterans.”
Weekly Unemployment Numbers for Week Ending Feb. 19
- For the file week ending Feb. 19, the number of initial claims, unadjusted, totaled 1,601, a decrease of 139 from the previous week's level of 1,740.
- For the same file week, the less volatile initial claims’ four-week moving average was 1,785, a decrease of 135 from the previous week's average of 1,920.
- The number of continued claims totaled 12,507, a decrease of 213 from the previous week’s level of 12,720.
- Continued claims’ four-week moving average was 12,695 a decrease of 147 from the previous week's average of 12,842.
Nationally, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for the week ending Feb. 26 was 215,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level, the U.S. Department of Labor (U.S. DOL) reports. The four-week moving average was 230,500, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised average. For the week ending Feb. 19, the U.S. DOL reports the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.1%, 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.
