By AP
Oklahoma City, OK – Jobless rates pass 11 percent in 3 Okla. counties
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The unemployment rate pushed past 11 percent in three eastern Oklahoma counties in January.
The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission reports that Latimer County had the highest jobless rate in the state at 11.7 percent. That's higher than the December rate of 10.6 percent but lower than the 12.8 percent recorded in January 2010.
The commission says the second-highest unemployment rate was reported in McCurtain County, 11.4 percent. Okmulgee County was third with a jobless rate of 11.1 percent, and Sequoyah, Hughes and McIntosh counties followed, with unemployment rates of 10.9 percent, 10.7 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively.
The counties with the lowest unemployment rates were Beaver and Roger Mills counties in western Oklahoma. Each had unemployment rates of 3.5 percent.
Cimarron County reported a jobless rate of 3.7 percent.