For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, fewer than 4,000 Oklahomans filed new jobless claims last week.
For the week ending Oct. 31, 3,858 people filed initial claims, a 22% drop from the previous week.
First-time jobless claims in Oklahoma are still more than double what they were prior to the pandemic, but 21 states saw their number of new claims go up last week.
The number of Oklahomans receiving continuing unemployment benefits last week also dropped, declining a little more than 9,000 to 50,115.