The latest unemployment statistics in Oklahoma show the state with a larger number of people out of work percentage-wise than the nation. Lynn Gray with the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission says it’s been a long time since that happened. The last time was in 1990, more than 25 years ago.
The state’s unemployment rate from July is five percent, one-tenth of a point higher than the national rate of 4.9%. Gray says it’s the continuing slump in the oil and gas industry that’s the major factor in the rising rate.