The latest Oklahoma Employment Security Commission’s (OESC) monthly employment report for May, which contains the preliminary statistics for April 2025, shows that in April Seminole County once again had the fourth highest rate of unemployment in the state after starting the year with the sixth highest, rising to fifth in February, and then fourth last month.

The latest report states that, across the state, unemployment rates in April were lower than a year earlier in 68 counties, higher in 6 counties, and unchanged in 3 counties.

In the report for April, Pushmataha County, which has held the highest unemployment rate since January, was matched by Love County in the rating. The good news is that the low rate has improved to 4.0 percent from the 5.4 percent that was reported last month. McIntosh County reported the second- highest rate for the month.

Texas County once again reported the lowest county unemployment rate in the state, a position it has also held since the first of the year. This month Dewey County also reported the same lowest state rate of 1.4 percent, an improvement over the low rate of 1.7 percent last month.

According to the latest figures from the OESC, the labor force in SEMINOLE COUNTY dropped from 9,385 in March to 9,257 in April. The number of employed dropped from 8,951 in March to 8,913 in April. The number of unemployed dropped from 434 to 344.

These changes lowered the county’s unemployment rate from 4.6 percent to 3.7 percent. This month’s rate was also lower than the 4.4 percent unemployment that was reported for April 2024. Even though Seminole County’s unemployment dropped significantly, similar changes across the state caused its ranking among the 77 counties in Oklahoma to remain the same at 74. The lower this number is, the better. The county with the highest rate of unemployment is 77, the county with the lowest unemployment is 1. Neighboring HUGHES COUNTY reported unemployment dropped from 4.5 percent last month to 3.6 percent in the latest report. Last year their unemployment rate was 4.4 percent. This change placed Hughes County in the 72nd position.

POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY unemployment numbers dropped from 3.5 to 2.8 percent. This improvement moved them from the 49th spot to the 48th. Their unemployment rate was 3.1 percent last year.

OKFUSKEE COUNTY’S ranking jumped from the 56th to the 53rd position after their unemployment rate dropped from 3.6 to 2.9 percent. Okfuskee County reported a 3.9 percent unemployment rate last year. PONTOTOC COUNTY, which usually has one of the lower rankings in the surrounding area, saw unemployment drop from 2.7 to 2.2 percent. Their unemployment rate was 2.8 percent last year. This improvement didn’t prevent Pontotoc County’s state ranking to rise from 19th to 22nd.

It should be noted that the statistics in this report are an attempt to provide a snapshot of information and statistics that are constantly changing. The OESC report explains that each month, current employment statistics and local area unemployment statistics date is preliminary and data for the previous month is revised in their reports. For example, last month the preliminary data for March reported a Seminole County labor force of 9401, which was updated to 9,385 this month. When this happens, this report will use the revised figure. If the change is significant, the revision will be commented on in the story.