New census report quantifies recession in Oklahoma

The 2010 figures were released this week as part of the bureau's annual County Business Patterns report, which inventories the number of establishments on the state and county levels and provides data on employment and payroll records.

On a percentage basis, the biggest losses in jobs during the recession happened in the construction sector, which fell 18 percent, and in mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction, which fell 14 percent.

The number of employees working in oil and gas extraction actually increased slightly, but employees working support jobs for oil and gas drilling and operations decreased substantially.

But two employment sectors experienced increases in the number of employees from 2008 to 2010: Employees in education services increased by 5 percent and employees in health care services increased by 2 percent.

In 2010, Oklahoma County saw the number of paid employees decrease for the third year in a row. There were 337,056 employees recorded in 2010 compared to 360,145 in 2007, according to the report — a 6 percent decline.

The numbers mirror national trends. U.S. businesses with paid employees declined for the third straight year in 2010, and between 2009 and 2010 total employment across all sectors decreased by 2.5 million employees, according to the report.