Ice likely to blame for recent job losses

Oklahoma lost 2,200 jobs in December, ending the year with an unemployment rate of 4.3 percent, according to figures released Friday by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.

The construction sector was the source of nearly all the losses last month, with 1,300 jobs vacated.

John Carpenter, spokesman for the employment commission, said although the agency does not have hard data that link the job losses in construction to the December ice storms, it is likely the weather played a major role.

"The data was collected on the 12th of the month,” Carpenter said. "The ice storm was going on during that time.”

Carpenter said weather was also to blame for employment decreases in the leisure and hospitality area, which lost 2,100 jobs in December.

He said leisure and hospitality, which includes arts, entertainment and food service, typically sees a December drop as cold weather entices more consumers to stay home.

The winter season wasn't all negative for the state's unemployment rate, though. The retail sector added 1,600 jobs in December, an expected jump during that time of the year.

"The seasonal hiring each year pushes employment and retail trade up,” Carpenter said.

Although the state's unemployment rate grew by more than 15 percent in 2007 compared with the previous year, it still remained below the nation's rate of 4.8 percent.

"That increase was not really a surprise,” Carpenter said. "It has stayed steady.”

Tulsa helped the state stay below the national rate with its increase in jobs during December. While both Lawton and Oklahoma City lost jobs from November to December, Tulsa gained 900 jobs. Tulsa ended 2007 with an increase of 7,300 jobs. The city's strongest growth was in the areas of government, trade, transportation and utilities and professional business services.

Lawton, which lost 100 jobs in December, expanded employment by 1,200 jobs overall last year. Government and retail trade were Lawton's biggest gainers in 2007.

Although Oklahoma City's construction sector took a big hit in December, the industry was one of the city's biggest gainers for the year, increasing 5.6 percent.

Jeff Click, owner of Jeff Click Homes in Oklahoma City, said a lot of builders would consider 2007 to be a return to normalcy in the construction industry. He also is vice president of the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association.

"I think if you look from a historical perspective, 2007 was still a strong year. Just because we have slight pullback in the numbers doesn't mean the sky is falling,” Click said.

Other big job gainers in the metro area were natural resources and mining and professional and business services.