With Oklahoma’s unemployment rate rising to 7.1 percent in October, students preparing to graduate this month might be nervous about finding a job.
Despite the national unemployment rate reaching 10.2 percent in October, public relations senior Morgan Dickerson said she’s optimistic about finding a job once she graduates.
Dickerson said if she cannot find a job after graduation, she will look for additional internships.
“You have to learn to work your way up if you don’t get what you what,” she said.
Lynn Gray, director of economic analysis for Oklahoma’s Unemployment Security Commission, said the current job market is something everyone should be concerned with.
He said attributes the limited effects of the recession in Oklahoma to the “boom” and “bust” of the housing markets, which wasn’t hit as badly as states like California.
OU economics professor Tim Dunne said Oklahoma is doing better than other states because of a variety of industries.
“The central plains have done better because resource industries are more important in these areas,” he said.
Dunne said unemployment numbers can be deceiving in recessions.
“The unemployment rate will move at a slower pace than the growth of the GDP,” he said.
Dunne said Americans may see growth in other sectors of the economy, especially in its gross domestic product, but jobs may lag for some time after.
Dunne said the U.S. is coming out of the “latter end” of the recession because of the positive gross domestic product growth from the last quarter. Growth jumped up 2.8 percent from the last quarter, Dunne said.
Despite the recession, Oklahoma still ranks low in unemployment numbers and ranks 12th from last in unemployment rates, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Additionally, the nation’s unemployment rate may be increasing overall, but the number of jobs being lost each month is on the decline.
According to the bureau, job losses have averaged 188,000 per month in from August to October as compared to 357,000 jobs being lost from May to July.
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ougal 2 years, 5 months ago
Did the Daily just decide it needed an economy story? This reads like just a random assortment of bland and uninformative old news. The economy's been in the toilet for awhile now, kids. And maybe if the headline insinuates the economy will affect students' job searches, we should find a student who actually seems worried. Just sayin'.