Weekly unemployment filings remain at record low in state

The U.S. Labor Department on Thursday reported 899 initial claims for unemployment benefits were filed the week ending Nov. 5 in Oklahoma after initially reporting the figure to be 1,032.

The revised figure is the second lowest number of first-time claims during one week in the state, according to Oklahoma Employment Security Commission records dating to 1987.

The lowest one-week total since 1987 was recorded Oct. 28, 1989, when 184 claims were filed.

So, while initial claims increased nearly 22% from the week ending Nov. 5 to Saturday, the latest total— 1,094 claims — is still the ninth lowest ever in the past 35 years.

The story was the same for continued claims, or those filed after at least one week of unemployment.

Continued claims totals declined from 9,299 the week ending Oct. 29 to 8,944 claims the following week.

The unrevised 8,944 total for last week is second only to the 8,919 claims filed during the week ending Sept. 17, which is the lowest in at least 35 years, according to OESC records.

The four-week moving average increased from 1,082 claims the week ending Nov. 5 to 1,103 claims the week ending Saturday.

The continued claims four-week moving average declined from 9,251 the week ending Oct. 29 to 9,208 claims the week ending Nov. 5.

The six states bordering Oklahoma were divided in the direction of its initial claims totals with Arkansas, Colorado and New Mexico all reporting an increase in filings while Kansas, Missouri and Texas reported declines.

Nationally, initial claims declined by 4,000 to 222,000 filings during the week ending Saturday.