Published: April 03, 2009 12:23 pm         

New: Nation's jobless rate bolts to 8.5 percent, 663K jobs lost

The nation’s unemployment rate jumped to 8.5 percent in March, the highest since late 1983, as a wide swath of employers eliminated 663,000 jobs. It’s fresh evidence of the toll the recession has inflicted on America’s workers, and economists say there’s no relief in sight.

If part-time and discouraged workers are factored in, the unemployment rate would have been 15.6 percent in March, the highest on records dating to 1994, according to Labor Department data released Friday.

The average work week in March dropped to 33.2 hours, a new record low. Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost a net total of 5.1 million jobs, with almost two-thirds of the losses occurring in the last five months.

“It’s an ugly report and April is going to be equally as bad,” predicted Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com.

Oil prices dipped Friday after the government reported that the nation’s unemployment rate rose.

Benchmark crude for May delivery fell 53 cents to $52.36 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.



In Oklahoma



The latest statewide Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers saw unemployment continue to grow in February, albeit more slowly than in the previous month, when it took a 1.8 percent jump. Looking at the percentages, unemployment in the state grew by three-tenths of a point — 5.6 to 5.9 percent — in February. However, the number of unemployed topped 100,000 — coming in at 103,576 — for the first time since January 2003, when 100,491 were unemployed. Those were the only two times in the last 10 years the number of unemployed was in the six-digit realm.



In Enid and Garfield County



Garfield County unemployment for February 2009 comes in at 3.7 percent, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compares to 3.2 percent in January, 2.4 percent in February 2008 and 3.4 and 3.5 percent in February 2006 and 2007, respectively. Enid numbers took a jump in February — 3.5 percent — from January — 3.0 percent. February numbers compare to 2.4 percent in February 2008 and 3.6 and 3.7 percent in February 2006 and 2007, respectively.