Oklahoma's economic snapshot, 04/2013

              Oklahoma
Department
of
Commerce
www.okcommerce.gov/data
Research
&
Economic
Analysis
Oklahoma’s
Economic
Snapshot
April
2013
Employment
• After
a
strong
jump
upward
in
February,
OK’s
payroll
employment
dropped
1,600
jobs
in
March.
• 2012’s
revised
numbers
show
OK
gained
23,800
jobs
for
a
growth
rate
of
1.5%
and
state
ranking
of
23rd.
• Since
January
2011,
54,500
jobs
have
been
added
to
the
state’s
economy
for
a
3.5%
growth
rate
and
ranking
of
#18.
• OK’s
preliminary
unemployment
rate
for
March
stayed
steady
at
5.0%,
the
level
of
natural
unemployment,
keeping
one
of
the
lowest
rates
in
the
nation
(6th
lowest).
• Note:
While
BLS
has
reported
state
seasonally
adjusted
manufacturing
data
for
2013,
OK’s
numbers
have
not
been
released.
Capital
Expenditures
While
employment
is
a
strong
indicator
of
how
an
economy
is
performing,
another
marker
is
capital
investment
or
expenditures
(CapEx)
of
firms.
Just
like
households,
businesses
buy
goods
and
services.
Most
commonly,
these
expenditures
are
for
new
equipment
to
either
expand
their
current
capacity
or
to
replace
machinery
that
has
depreciated.
When
an
economy
produces
the
industrial
machinery
needed
for
businesses,
particularly
for
manufacturing,
the
multiplier
effect
increases
and
the
value
of
the
finished
product
remains
in
the
region.
In
Oklahoma,
Tulsa
has
a
very
strong
industrial
machinery
base
with
sales
in
2011
of
over
$16
billion
(one
of
their
regional
economic
systems)
and
provides
many
companies
with
the
equipment
needed
to
produce
their
goods.
Below
is
a
graph
that
shows
the
top
CapEx
industries
in
the
US,
and
the
potential
customers
of
our
Tulsa
manufacturers.
Oklahoma
Intense