New jobless figures from the government reveal the recovery of Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry is making slow progress.
The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission released May unemployment numbers this week showing the rates improved over the year for most counties. McIntosh County in eastern Oklahoma had the highest county unemployment rate at 8.1 percent followed by Haskell County where the rate is 7.2 percent.
The third highest county jobless rate is owned by Stephens County, home to the Halliburton operations in Duncan where layoffs by the company have taken their toll. Stephens County had a 7.1 percent jobless rate in May, almost as much as the eastern counties historically affected by the logging and mining operations.
The city of Duncan had an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent in May, the highest of any of the reporting cities across the state. Clearly, Halliburton’s layoffs had a lingering impact on the southern city. Employment has returned but not as quickly as city leaders would prefer. In fact, there was a dip in employment from April when the jobless rate was 6.3 percent. Unemployment in Duncan went from 1,268 reported in April to 1,392 in May. A year ago, Duncan’s jobless rate was 9.9 percent, again the highest in the state.
Other cities with known energy centers have their own jobless problems. The three-city area of Elk City, Clinton and Weatherford improved from last May when their jobless rate was 6.5 percent, reaching 4.5 percent last month. However, the number of unemployed went from 1,246 in April to 1,400 in May. That transfers into a 3.9 percent jobless rate for April and 4.5 percent in May.
The energy sector in Oklahoma City saw a decline of 1.8 percent in the employment rate from May 2016 to May 2017. Employment grew by 700 from April 2017 to last month which proved to be an increase of 1.6 percent. But the numbers of those working in the oil and gas industry in the city are still 800 fewer than May of last year.
In Tulsa, employment in the energy sector increased by 400 from April to May of this year. May employment totaled 28,700 but that’s still 100 fewer than a year ago.
The increase in employment was 1.4 percent from April to May 2017. But the decline from a year ago means a drop of -0.4 percent.
