This week we released the November issue of Numbers You Need (PDF), our monthly look at key data on the state’s economy  and budget. As we reported in the bulletin, one of the clearest signs of the depth and length of the economic downturn is that participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, rose for the seventeenth consecutive month in August. The program provided benefits to 524,536 people in August, an all-time high, and an increase of 27.3 percent compared to March 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

Our October edition of Numbers You Need is now out, providing a snapshot of economic and budget trends in Oklahoma through monthly data on jobs, inflation, public benefits, and state revenues, as well as the most recent quarterly data on building permits and an annual update on the poverty rate. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week we released the September edition of Numbers You Need, our monthly recap of statistics that shape Oklahoma. In addition to bad news for the short run–a higher unemployment rate, more people on public support programs, and the eighth straight month of declining state revenues–there’s bad news for the long run. Enrollment in Oklahoma colleges and universities has been essentially flat over the last five years. Read the rest of this entry »

If you look closely at our most recent Numbers You Need summary of Oklahoma economic and fiscal indicators, you’ll find a puzzle. On one hand, economic hardship is evident.

Oklahoma’s unemployment rate continued its rapid ascent in April, climbing to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 6.2 percent. This is its highest level since July 2003…The number of Oklahomans receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly Food Stamps) rose for the twelfth consecutive month in March, reaching an all-time high of 450,057 persons. Similarly, enrollment in the SoonerCare health insurance program increased by 1.2 percent in March and was up by 4.5 percent compared to one year prior.

Contrary to what you’d expect, though, the bad news is not reflected in use of the most basic piece of the safety net. Participation in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a federal block grant that helps fund job training, work supports, and, in some instances, short-term cash payments for low-income single parents, is virtually unchanged. There were only 230 (1.2 percent) more people receiving TANF cash assistance in March than a year ago. How can this be when the economy is shedding jobs and every other measure shows tens of thousands of people in need?

We have remarked before on  participation in the cash assistance portion of TANF and noted that we help a considerably smaller segment of the poor population than most other states. We want to know why, in the face of obvious need, we aren’t helping more of our fellow Oklahomans.

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We’re out with our latest Numbers You Need bulletin for June, tracking economic and fiscal trends in Oklahoma and the nation. While the bulletin focuses on monthly and quarterly data on jobs, inflation, work support programs, and the like, each month we present annual data on some indicator of Oklahoma’s general prosperity and well-being. This month we look at the trend in the annual number of confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect in the state. The news is decidedly encouraging.

Last year’s total of 11,714 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect is the lowest this decade. The rate of child abuse and neglect cases – 13.0 per 1,000 children in the population -  is the lowest since FY ‘94 and is down 35 percent from the peak rate of 20.0 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect per 1,000 children in FY ‘98.

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Source: www.uscourts.gov

The May edition of Numbers You Need, our monthly update of key Oklahoma economic and budget trends,  includes some recent data on bankruptcy filings in Oklahoma that provides another indicator of the spread of economic hardship in the state. For the fourth quarter of 2008, a total of 2,956 bankruptcies were filed in Oklahoma. This was an increase of 34.2 percent over the same quarter in 2007. For the year, there were 11,214 bankruptcy filings in Oklahoma, a 23.0 percent increase from 2007, which saw 9,122 filings. Nationally, bankruptcy filings rose at a higher rate than in Oklahoma – 31.4 percent in 2008 compared to 2007 – likely reflecting the recession hitting Oklahoma later. National rankings for 2008 are not yet available, but in 2007, Oklahoma ranked 22nd highest among the states, with a bankruptcy rate of 2.44 per 1,000 population.

The data also allow us to separate out business and non-business filings and chapters of the bankruptcy code.  Personal bankruptcies accounted for 95.9 percent of the filings in Oklahoma in 2008, which was a share very similar to the national average of 96.3 percent. Four out of every five filings (79.7 percent) in Oklahoma were filed under Chapter 7, under which a debtor liquidates non-exempt property in exchange for being discharged of some of their debt. One in five (19.8 percent) bankruptcies were filed under Chapter 13, under which debtors are allowed to retain ownership and possession of their assets, but must devote some portion of their future income to repaying creditors, generally over a period of three to five year.  A tiny number of bankruptcies – just 0.5 percent – were filed under Chapters 11 or 12 of the bankruptcy code.

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All hail the interns

Over the course of the last several months, the Spring semester. OK Policy has had the honor of having two interns from OSU. Kai Mann and Austin Linton were our first two interns to come to us through the Political Science department at OSU. Both were extremely helpful on a variety of assignments during this legislative session, including spending some time at the capitol and working on our Numbers You Need releases. We hope that they both gained as much from this experience as we did from having them.

Below is an opinion blog post written by Kai Mann and inspired by one of his assignments for OK Policy.
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Retrofit, Baby, Retrofit!

In rough economic times, it is often helpful to turn an eye towards more positive aspects of the state’s economy. One piece of good news is the fact that natural gas production is increasing. Since 2003, significant gains have been made in the production of natural gas, and that is good news for the state, especially as crude oil production continues a decline.

The United States is the world leader in natural gas production and Oklahoma, being one of the leaders in natural gas production nationwide, the number five producer out of all the states, should take a more active role in utilizing this resource. Cheaper and cleaner burning than oil and gasoline, the state should make a concerted effort to tap the full potential of this fuel source. Retrofitting of state vehicles to run off of CNG (compressed natural gas) would be a great place to start. This would allow the state’s vehicles to run off of a product that is in abundance in the state as well as lessen some of the uncertainty of dealing with wildly fluctuating gas prices that were common last summer and always a threat.

Efforts to effectively utilize the natural gas produced here in Oklahoma would be a great step for the Oklahoma to take to support one the state’s largest industries, become more energy independent, as well as help out the environment.

Numbers You Need is a monthly publication from OK Policy that presents key data on the state’s economy, work force, human services, and budget in one concise easy-to-read fact sheet.

April’s edition of Numbers You Need provides further evidence of the worsening economic situation in Oklahoma and the nation. The state’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate hit 5.5 percent in February, which is up from 5.0 percent in January but still well below the national rate of 8.1 percent. Personal income for the final quarter of 2008 rose by 0.1 percent in Oklahoma and fell by 0.2 percent nationally. Meanwhile, state revenue collections in March fell steeply for the third straight month, coming in 19.1 percent below last year’s amount and 17.2 percent below the certified estimate. The silver lining may be that inflation in the South region rose by 0.5 percent in February due in large part to rising energy prices, taming fears of deflation and providing some hope that the oil and gas sector may be rebounding. Read the rest of this entry »