NE Oklahoma Sees A Jump In Unemployment For January

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- Four northeastern Oklahoma counties have broken the 10 percent barrier in the latest figures released by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission on Friday.

Sequoyah, Okmulgee, LeFlore and Pawnee counties all jumped above 10 percent for the first time from December 2009 to January 2010.

McCurtain County, in southeastern Oklahoma opened the year with Oklahoma's highest county unemployment rate of 12.1 percent.

January 2010 numbers show Sequoyah County - 11.5 percent, Okmulgee County - 11.1 percent, LeFlore County - 10.5 percent and Pawnee County – 10 percent.

Tulsa County's unemployment rate was up 1 percentage point from December to January's 7.8 percent.

A year ago January, Tulsa County's rate was 5.3 percent.

Elsewhere, Creek County's unemployment in January was 9.8 percent, Adair and McIntosh counties were 9.6 percent and Mayes County with 9.5 percent.

The lowest unemployment rate in northeast Oklahoma was Washington County with 6.1 percent.

To find out more, read the news release from the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.