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Unemployment Rate Climbs in All 77 Oklahoma Counties

Kate Hiscock
/
Flickr Creative Commons

Oklahoma labor officials say the state's unemployment rate rose in every one of its 77 counties in May, a trend they say is not uncommon for the month.

Figures released on Tuesday show Sequoyah County in southeast Oklahoma had the highest unemployment rate of 9 percent in May, up from 8.2 percent in April. The lowest unemployment rate was in Roger Mills County in western Oklahoma at 2.2 percent, which was an increase from 1.8 percent in April.

In the state's largest county, Oklahoma County, the rate was 5.2 percent in May, up nearly a full percentage point from 4.3 percent in April.

Oklahoma Employment Security Commission spokesman John Carpenter says it is common for the unemployment rate to spike in May as students join the search for summer employment.  

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