Overview

Information on the employment status of the Oklahoma population is compiled by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) in cooperation with the Bureau pf Labor Statistics (BLS). Statistics on the labor force, employment, and unemployment are released monthly for the State, counties, Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Oklahoma Labor Markets.

The statistics are derived from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of the population conducted conducted by the Bureau of the Census for BLS.

Data Collection

Each month the CPS conducts a random survey of approximately 50,000 members of US households who are 16 years of age or older. Respondents are asked a series of questions including the employment status of each qualifying member of the household during the calendar week including the 12th day of the month.

Geographic Coverage

Data is available for the State, 77 Counties, the Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Lawton and Enid Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Definitions

Civilian Labor Force The civilian labor force comprises the sum total of all civilians classified as employed and unemployed. All other persons, i.e., those who are not working and are not looking for work are counted as  "not in the labor force." 

Persons not in the labor force may include those attending school, persons who are retired, and those with physical or mental disabilities

Employed Persons are counted as employed if they did any work at all for pay or profit during the survey week including all part-time and temporary work or who did at least 15 hours of unpaid work in a family-operated enterprise. . In addition, persons also are counted as employed if they have a job but did not work during the week of the survey for one of the following reasons:

• On vacation
• Child-care problems;
• Family or personal obligation;
• On maternity or paternity leave;
• Involved in an industrial dispute
• Prevented from working by bad weather.

Unemployed Persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work.

Unemployment Rate Represents the proportion of the civilian labor force that is unemployed.

Participation Rate The proportion of the population that is in the labor force.

Contacts

For additional information about the Labor Force Series contact:

John McCraw
Assistant Director
Center for Economic and Management Research
Michael F. Price College of Business
The University of Oklahoma
307 W. Brooks
Norman, Oklahoma 73019
mailto:jmccraw@ou.edu

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