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March 12, 2010

Woodward County sees unemployment rate drop

Michelle Seeber Woodward News

Woodward, Okla. — Since January 2009, the number of jobs available in Woodward County  has been sliding downward. But there are signs now that employment may be picking up.

Karla Pummel, manager of Workforce Oklahoma in Woodward, says that over the last three months jobs in the county have been on the increase as shown by statistics provided by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.

For example, in October of 2009, unemployment in Woodward County was 6.9 percent, she said.

“In November, it was 6.6 percent, and in December it was 6 percent,” Pummel said.

That decrease means “in Woodward County (in December) 710 people were out of work” and drawing unemployment, compared to 818 in October, she said.

“Though 710 people is a lot, that shows some improvement,” she said.

Pummel added that as of December the labor force in Woodward County was 11,860 people.

She noted Woodward County and others in the area still rank among the lowest for unemployment in the state.

In comparison, Pummel noted Garfield County had an unemployment rate of 4.7 percent as of December 2009.  However, she explained that while Garfield County's overall rate may be lower, that rate represents a greater number of people who are out of work, with 1,480 people drawing unemployment out of the county's 31,830-man labor force.

Oklahoma's overall unemployment rate was 6.7 percent as of January 2010, meaning almost 120,000 Oklahomans were unemployed out of a workforce of over 1.7 million, according to the Oklahoma Employment Securities Commission website www.ok.gov/oesc_web.

Nationwide, the percentages are much higher.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics website, www.bls.gov, 14.9 million people in the United States are unemployed, reaching a percentage of 9.7 percent as of January 2010.

Pummel attributed Woodward County's improving employment statistics to a rise in oilfield employment.

“Usually if the oilfield is picking up, employment will pick up in the area,” Pummel said.

Christine Kirbie, classified consultant for the Woodward News, has also noted jobs in the area are on the increase and many of them are oilfield related.

“We are actually taking more (help wanted) ads, especially in the oilfield and medical field,” Kirbie said. “We haven’t seen any of those in a long time.”

But there are other kinds of jobs as well.

“I actually have done some ads for some new businesses coming into the area, which I think is a really positive sign,” Kirbie said. “Before it started picking up, there was a point when we had only three or four help wanted ads.”

On Wednesday, a count showed there were 17 help wanted ads in the paper.

“I think it’s really a good sign the economy’s rebounding,” Kirbie said. “Somebody’s spending some money if the employers are hiring.”

Pummel noted more employers were posting employment ads with her office as well and she encouraged the unemployed in the Woodward County area to visit her agency's website at www.workforceok.org.

“I would certainly suggest they use our website,” she said. “They can see what’s available locally and throughout the state.”

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