For the first time since before COVID-19, the number of Oklahoman’s on unemployment benefits has fallen below 17,000. This decline in unemployed workers is coinciding with a drop in Oklahoma’s unemployment rate to 3%. In December 2019, the last time the unemployment rate was this low, there were no unemployed Oklahomans.
It’s been four months since the state of Oklahoma terminated extended benefits for people experiencing unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cutting the extended benefits was supposed to get people to return to work. Recent data has shown that the plan seemed to work in getting workers to return to the workforce. According to an analysis of economic data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the labor force participation rate is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels.
Oklahoma’s workforce is not as large as the national average. It’s hard to find work in Oklahoma, with family obligations, lack of jobs, and illness or disability being major deterrents reported as the significant reasons.
A recent survey commissioned by the Kansas City Fed reveals that over three-quarters of employers have to offer higher wages to attract workers. This is the first time these companies have had to take such a tactic to gain workers since at least 2014.
