Numbers rise in most areas

The employment rate around the state fluctuated during September, according to the latest statistics from the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.

Okmulgee County saw its job numbers remain steady at 4.2 percent during the month, the same as the previous month. There are 16,231 currently employable, with 688 without jobs. The number is slightly higher than Sept. 2022, when the county reported a rate of 4.1 percent In September, Latimer County posted Oklahoma’s highest county unemployment rate of 5.7 percent. McIntosh County reported the second-highest rate for the month, followed by Haskell County. Cimarron and Texas Counties reported the lowest county unemployment rate of 2.1 percent in September.

Unemployment rates in September were lower than a year earlier in five counties, higher in 70 counties and unchanged in two counties.

Here is a look at the latest figures:

September 2023 Highest Rates • Latimer County, 5.7%

• McIntosh County, 5.6%

• Haskell County, 5.4% — September 2023 Lowest Rates • Cimarron County, 2.1%

• Texas County, 2.1

• Grant County, 2.2%

• Beaver County, 2.2%

• Woods County, 2.2% — Okmulgee & Neighboring Counties • Creek, 3.27%

• Okfuskee, 4.3%

• Okmulgee, 3.2%

• McIntosh, 5.5%

• Muskogee, 4.1%

• Tulsa, 3.4%