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A Softer Job Market, and the Paycheck Math · The 405 Payroll

• 0:13
  Welcome to The 405 Payroll, your lunch break guide to a bigger paycheck and an
• 0:18
  easier month in Oklahoma City.
• 0:21
  I'm Claire Brooks, and today's episode is built for people who rent here,
• 0:25
  work hard, and want the math to loosen up.
• 0:29
  And I'm Miles.
• 0:30
  We've got named employers with real starting pay, a training path toward twenty two
• 0:35
  to twenty eight dollars an hour, side money you can start this week,
• 0:39
  and one move to make before the day is over.
• 0:42
  But first, the headline.
• 0:44
  The Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers, updated October 21st,
• 0:47
  show Oklahoma gained 100 jobs in September.
• 0:51
  That's the seventh month in a row of positive growth, and it ranked twenty third
• 0:55
  among states.
• 0:56
  A hundred jobs for a whole state sounds small.
• 1:00
  It is small, and growth slowed from 1,800 in August.
• 1:04
  But here's the part that hits home.
• 1:06
  The Oklahoma City metro area lost 1,200 jobs in September, while Tulsa gained 600.
• 1:13
  So our metro had a soft month.
• 1:15
  Does that mean nobody's hiring?
• 1:17
  No, and the sector detail shows why.
• 1:20
  Statewide, administrative and support services added 1,000 jobs,
• 1:24
  and accommodation and food services added another 1,000.
• 1:27
  Retail added 300.
• 1:29
  Meanwhile health care and social assistance lost 700, local government lost 900,
• 1:35
  and transportation, warehousing, and utilities lost 300.
• 1:39
  So the openings exist, they're just not spread evenly.
• 1:44
  And the employers who still need people are putting the pay right in the listing,
• 1:48
  which helps us.
• 1:49
  Now, why does this matter at your kitchen table?
• 1:52
  Rent across the metro hovers around $1,100 to $1,200 a month.
• 1:56
  Entry level service jobs average roughly $13.45 to $14.50 an hour,
• 2:01
  and at those wages, rent can take nearly half of your take home pay.
• 2:06
  That's the squeeze, and I want to say plainly that it's not you doing something
• 2:11
  wrong.
• 2:12
  It's a math problem sitting between the wage and the lease.
• 2:15
  Which is why the target is specific.
• 2:18
  Step one, land a job that starts at $17 or $18 and up.
• 2:22
  Step two, add a credential that reaches $22 to $28 an hour.
• 2:26
  Let me put a number on step one.
• 2:29
  Going from $14 to $18 is four dollars more an hour.
• 2:33
  Over forty hours, that's $160 more a week before taxes, roughly $690 more a month.
• 2:41
  And these monthly figures get revised later as fuller data comes in,
• 2:45
  so treat them as a snapshot, not a verdict on your job search.