Oklahomans Struggle To Find Jobs Amid State's Lowest Unemployment Rates

The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission says the state's unemployment rates are the lowest we've seen since at least 2017, coming in at around 2.9%.

That is lower than the national average of 3.6% but some Oklahomans say they’re still not able to land a job. We spoke with Oklahomans who say they're learning they are under or over-qualified for the jobs they're applying for, leaving them without any job at all.

We know what you're thinking, yes there are help wanted signs on every corner, but for people like Haley Armstrong and Courtney Ervin, it's not just about accepting the first minimum wage job they see. 

"I actually have three degrees,” Ervin said. “An associate in criminal justice, bachelor's in criminal justice, and a master's in criminal justice.”

Ervin has three degrees and has worked in the criminal justice field for more than five years but said can't get a callback. She says without recent employment history, she also can't get an apartment and has little access to health insurance.

"I'm living off my savings, I have maybe a month before that runs out, I don't want a part-time job but I will if I have to,” Ervin said.

Haley Armstrong tells me she and her husband were both recently unemployed. Her husband was able to find work, but she's looking for a customer service job that pays a livable wage. She said she feels she rarely gets taken seriously since she is 18 years old.

"I've been searching for a job for three months, but nobody will give me an interview, I don't know if it's because of my age, but even if I meet every qualification, they will deny me and say I'm not qualified,” Armstrong said.

She said she wants to work, but even after sending out more than 55 job applications, she is still getting no answers.

"There's a lot of people like me, we aren't lazy or don't want to work,” Armstrong said. “I have a ton of motivation and I want to do big things one day, but it’s hard when nobody will give you the time of day to try to do those things.”

Both Haley and Courtney say they spend most of every day applying for jobs, hoping to snag an interview and hoping to find something as fears of even higher inflation rates and a potential recession continue to loom.