Oklahoma City MSA unemployment rate is 2.8% / ranked No. 6 lowest among large metros

In December, the Oklahoma City MSA unemployment rate held steady at 2.8%, unchanged from November. The metro has now experienced 41 consecutive months with an unemployment rate below 4%, marking the longest such streak in modern history. The December unemployment rate remains preliminary and subject to revision.

Statewide, unemployment rates were lower than a year ago in 55 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties, higher in 12 counties and unchanged in 10 counties.

Among large metropolitan areas with populations over 1 million, Oklahoma City had the sixth-lowest unemployment rate in December. Minneapolis, Minnesota, recorded the lowest at 2.5%, while Las Vegas, Nevada, had the highest at 5.9%.

For December, 

• Oklahoma County unemployment was 3.0% (unchanged from 3.0% prior month) 
• State of Oklahoma unemployment was 3.3% (unchanged from 3.3% prior month) 
• Tulsa MSA unemployment was 2.9% (improvement from 3.0% prior month) 
• United States unemployment in December was 4.1% (improvement from 4.2% prior month)

For more details, please visit: 

• Oklahoma Employment Report (includes Greater OKC Partnership county level data:  https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/oesc/documents/labor-market/reports/2025/subarea/county-report-2025-02-05.pdf
• BLS Metropolitan Economic News Release:  https://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.nr0.htm
• Unemployment Rate Rankings for Large Metros:  https://www.bls.gov/web/metro/laulrgma.htm

• Oklahoma LAUS Data Report:  https://oklahoma.gov/oesc/labor-market/local-area-statistics.html  

Close monitoring of upcoming release dates will be helpful.  Assuming no disruption takes place in the collection process, the release dates are as follows: 

• United States unemployment: January Unemployment numbers will be released on February 7, 2025
• State of Oklahoma unemployment: January Unemployment will be released on March 17, 2025
• Metro and County level unemployment: January Unemployment will be released on March 21, 2025.