Numbers Up Nationally
In the week ending July 18, first time unemployment claims were up 109,000 to 1.4 million, from 1.307 million the week previous. However, the four-week rolling average was 15.5 million, a decrease of 758,500 from the week previous average, which was 18,263,750. This brings the national unemployment rate to 11.1%, down from a March high of 14.4 %
The highest rates for the week ending July 4 were Puerto Rico at 26% ; Nevada at 21.3%; Hawaii at 20.7%; Georgia at 18%; California at 16.9%; Louisiana at 16.5%; New York at 16.1%; Connecticut at 15.4%; and Massachusetts at 15%. The highest increases for claims were in Florida, Georgia, California, Washington and Indiana. The states with the biggest decreases were Maryland, Texas, New Jersey, Michigan and Louisiana.
In Oklahoma, there were 8,579 new claimants in the week ending July 18, down from the week prior by 1,101. Unemployment claimants for the week ending July 11 were 118,589, down from the week prior by 13,343. These rates are from the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics and are not seasonally adjusted. Wallethub ranks Oklahoma as the sixth-lowest unemployment rate in the nation with one of the fastest rates of economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. It reached those numbers by comparing rates from June 2019 to rates from June 2020.