Jobs Hard To Find For Tulsa Unemployed

By Jennifer Loren, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Oklahoma saw unemployment rates rise from 4.5 percent in November to 4.8 percent in December.

McCurtain County has the highest unemployment rate in the state at 9 percent, and Beaver County has the lowest at 2.4 percent.

A Tulsa man laid off last month says good jobs are impossible to find right now, even in Oklahoma, which many seem to think is recession-proof.

Brent Adams moved to Tulsa last year to work as a copy editor at the Tulsa World. Four months later, he was laid off.

"It's just kind of upsetting since I lost my job in such a short time," Adams said.

The Tulsa World, like dozens of other local businesses, blamed the deteriorating economy.

"One person joked with me as soon as I lost my job," he said. "She said, ‘You know, the unemployment office is hiring.' ... That's a sign of the times."

Adams says he couldn't find a comparable job. Bills began piling up, so he swallowed his pride and took a job at a local Walgreens.

"It's something," he said. "It's not much, but it's something."

Now he spends his free time searching for job listings and handing out resumes. But, he says, Oklahoma doesn't have much to offer.

"I kept hearing about how Tulsa's been shielded from the bad economy," Adams said. "Tulsa's been shielded from the recession. Well, the recession and the bad economy's caught up to this town. There's not much available for people of my expertise."

Tulsa County's unemployment rate is just under the state's average at 4.7 percent.