Oklahoma’s crude oil producers are expected to experience a 38.1% drop in revenue from crude oil production in 2015. In dollar terms, this reflects a $4.35 billion swing from the record $11.4 billion in crude oil revenue produced in 2014. Our pic of the week illustrates both the amount and value of crude oil produced annually in Oklahoma since 1981.
The ongoing drop in the number of drilling rigs searching for crude oil now exceeds the collapse in natural gas rigs suffered back in the 2008-2009 period. Our pic of the week illustrates the similarity in size and pace between the respective oil and gas drilling collapses. Crude rigs are offÂ
The U.S. drilling rig count is now down 55% since September 2014. The decline has reached 60% in both Texas and North Dakota.
Our pic-of-the-week highlights changes in the latest data that suggest we may be getting much closer to a near-term bottom in the rig count. Most importantly, the overallÂ
Layoffs in the oil and gas sector are now clearly weighing on overall employment in the top-tier energy-producing states. Our pic-of-the-week illustrates the sharp slowdown in job growth in the energy states relative to the non-energy states in just the past six months.  In sharp contrast to the strong labor market conditions enjoyed in most other states,Â
Yes, those states with the highest education levels do tend to have the highest average incomes. In fact, the relationship is remarkably strong and consistent across the 50 states. Our pic-of-the-week shows the relationship between per capita income and the average number of years of schooling across the states in 2013. As you might suspect, the traditional high income (e.g. MA, CT, MN, CO, NJ, MD) and low income (e.g. WV, MS, AR, KY, AL) states generally have education levels to match.