State's economy growing, Fed officers says

ENID, Okla. — Oklahoma’s economy is growing as it continues to recover from the COVID pandemic, a representative of the Federal Reserve Bank said Monday, June 30, 2025.

Cortney Cowley is the Federal Reserve Bank’s lead officer and regional economist in Oklahoma. She spoke Monday at the Enid Rotary Club meeting at Stride Bank Center and said the Oklahoma branch of the Federal Reserve is important because it is unique.

“There is a broad market between agriculture and energy in our state,” she said. “The Oklahoma economy continues to grow and unemployment is low.”

This is despite the fact that the country’s GDP, gross domestic product, fell slightly in the first quarter, meaning the economy shrunk about .5%, she said. Cowley said she thought this had to do with firms front loading imports because of changing tariff policies.

“Unemployment continues to be low in Oklahoma, and the labor force participation rate met the national average for the first time in over three decades,” Cowley said.

Job openings still exceed the number of unemployed workers, she said, but it is closing in on pre-pandemic levels. This was driven mainly by Native Americans, who reached their highest labor level in more than two decades due to development in the tribal-heavy southeastern corner of the state, she said.

Cowley said low unemployment in our state also was a result of having an excellent CareerTech that helps match people to jobs. Oklahoma’s job growth also was driven by health care, construction, leisure/hospitality and retail. More women got back into the market after having to take care of families during the pandemic, she said.

Firms have faced higher costs, and some have raised output prices, she said. These firms expect prices to increase due to trade policy but are unsure of demand.

Home values spiked following the pandemic, but growth has eased with higher interest rates, she said. Homeownership for first-time buyers became less affordable across Oklahoma in recent years, she said. In the Enid area, 20% to 25% of household income goes to a home.

Drilling activity had increased the first of 2025, she said, but has recently cooled because of the falling oil prices.

“Oklahoma farm income grew in the first quarter,” Cowley said, “partially due to higher cattle prices.”

Both metropolitan and rural areas have gained residents on net, she said, but the surge of college graduates into the state cooled in 2023.

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