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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
-- February 17, 2012
Senate
District 34
Economic indicators
in Oklahoma continue to paint a positive picture for the state. The
Director of State Finance this week released the numbers on January’s
sales tax collections. The $165 million represents an all-time monthly
record, and is almost 12 percent higher than the same time one year
ago.
While he also mentioned
that low natural gas prices are a concern, a positive outlook is justified
by a number of recent figures showing the state has one of the nation’s
healthiest economies.
In her state of
the state address, the Governor addressed our state’s new status
as one of the nation’s leaders in job growth. In fact, Oklahoma
is currently creating jobs at a rate 3.5 times faster than the national
average. Oklahoma also led the nation in manufacturing growth in 2011
at 8.4 percent. In the coming year, our gross state product is expected
to grow at a rate of 4.6 percent, more than twice the rate of the gross
national product.
Additionally, our
unemployment rate has dropped in the midst of a period of strong population
growth. Oklahoma’s population grew by 8.7 percent from 2000 to
2010.
These figures should
give us cause for optimism and an assurance that even better times are
ahead for our state.
For the Legislature,
our focus must be on finding ways to capitalize on this momentum and
turn it into lasting prosperity. We intend to do so by focusing first
on job growth and policies which can attract business and industry to
Oklahoma. I was proud to join my colleagues in the Senate Republican
Caucus recently as we discussed with the media our shared goal of enacting
legislation that will allow our state to compete for jobs on a global
scale.
As we advance through
the legislative session, I will keep you aware of our efforts to make
our state a better place to live and work.
Please feel free
to contact me at the state Capitol by calling (405) 521-5566 or by email
at brinkley@oksenate.gov.
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