New data from the Federal Reserve Bank show a higher percentage of Native Americans are part of Oklahoma’s workforce than at any time in the past two decades, with the participation among Indigenous folks growing since 2021.
The report found the growth of the Indigenous labor force outweighs that of the state overall. Native Americans only make up 14% of Oklahoma’s population, but they accounted for 71% of the recent increase in the state’s total overall employment rate increase.
Two factors can cause the labor force participation rate to grow: more people working or actively looking for work, or a decrease in the civilian working-age population, which includes people 16 and older.
In this case, researchers said an increase in the labor force drives the recent growth rate.
Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and the southeast corner of the state saw the largest gains in employment rates, with the biggest growth occurring in education, healthcare, and government.
The report also compared tribal government employment to the state's, noting tribal governments' employment success after the COVID pandemic.
"These jobs are now over 50% higher than their 2015 levels and tribal government and enterprise jobs are about 20% higher, while total jobs for Oklahoma and the U.S. are just 5 to 10% higher," according to the report.
The full report is available from the Federal Reserve’s Oklahoma Economist.
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