Okla. unemployment claims set weekly record
By Tim Talley

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma set a new record for unemployment claims last week as the impact of the global recession continues to be felt in the state, the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission said Tuesday.

The state paid out $20.8 million last week on 64,190 jobless claims – an all-time record, said commission spokesman John Carpenter.

"We've been setting records since the start of the year. Every week it just inches up more," Carpenter said.

In addition, Carpenter said that as of the end of June, the state had paid out a total of $273.9 million to jobless Oklahomans, more than all of last year when the state paid out $182.6 million.

In spite of the growth in unemployment payments, the state's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund remains healthy, Carpenter said. The fund from which jobless claims are paid contained $715.5 million at the end of June.

"We've weathered this a lot better than many other states have," Carpenter said. "That didn't happen by accident."

Last month, the commission reported that the state's jobless rate declined slightly in June to 6.3 percent from 6.4 percent in May. In June 2008, Oklahoma's unemployment rate was 3.8 percent.

The commission says four Oklahoma counties reported double-digit unemployment rates in June. County-by-county figures show Hughes County in east-central Oklahoma had the highest rate at 11.1 percent. McCurtain and Latimer counties each posted figures slightly below 11 percent, while Noble County was at 10.2 percent.

The two Oklahoma counties with the largest populations – Oklahoma County and Tulsa County – had unemployment rates last month of 6.1 percent and 6.5 percent respectively.

The national unemployment rate rose to 9.5 percent in June, an expansion of 0.1 percentage points for the month.