Oklahoma’s unemployment rate hit 7.1 percent in October — the highest in more than 21 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
October’s number topped the revised 6.8 percent jobless rate posted in September. In October 2008, the state’s jobless rate was 4.2 percent, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released Friday by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.
The last time Oklahoma’s unemployment rate was this high was in January 1988 according to BLS data.
Lynn Gray, the OESC’s chief economist, said he is not surprised by the October number, given that the nation’s unemployment rate is 10.2 percent. A year and a half ago he thought there was a “distinct possibility” that the state’s jobless rate could reach the low 7 percent range if the U.S. rate were to rise above 10 percent.
The BLS reported that 29 states saw their unemployment rates rise in October, while 13 had lower rates than in September.
Michigan’s 15.1 percent rate was the nation’s highest. It was followed by Nevada at 13 percent, Rhode Island at 12.9 percent, California at 12.5 percent and South Carolina at 12.1 percent.
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Source: Tulsa World
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