The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

November 23, 2009

<img src=" http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/business.gif" Border=0> Oklahoma unemployment rate hits 20-year high


OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma’s unemployment rate is on the rise.

The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission reported the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 7.1 percent in October, the highest in more than 20 years.

The figures show the unemployment rate jumped from 6.8 percent, where it had held steady in August and September.

OESC spokesman John Carpenter says the last time the state’s unemployment rate reached 7.1 percent was in January 1988.

But Oklahoma still is doing better than most states. Oklahoma’s 7.1 percent unemployment rate compares to a national rate of 10.2 percent.