In early 2007, Oklahoma had a civilian labor force of 1.7 million and total non-farm employment fluctuated around 1.6 million. The government sector provides the most jobs, with 326,000 in 2007, followed by the transportation and utilities sector, providing 285,000 jobs, and the sectors of education, business, and manufacturing, providing 191,000, 178,000, and 151,000 jobs, respectively. Among the state’s largest industries, the aerospace sector generates $11 billion annually.

Tulsa is home to the largest airline maintenance base in the world, which serves as the global maintenance and engineering headquarters for American Airlines. In total, aerospace accounts for more than 10 percent of Oklahoma’s industrial output, and it is one of the top 10 states in aerospace engine manufacturing.Due to its position in the center of the United States, Oklahoma is also among the top states for logistic centers, and a major contributor to weather-related research.

The state is the top manufacturer of tires in North America and contains one of the fastest-growing biotechnology industries in the nation. In 2005, international exports from Oklahoma’s manufacturing industry totaled $4.3 billion, accounting for 3.6 percent of its economic impact. Tire manufacturing, meat processing, oil and gas equipment manufacturing, and air conditioner manufacturing are the state’s largest manufacturing industries.

Agriculture

In terms of revenue generated Oklahoma’s top five agricultural products are cattle and calves, hogs, broilers (young chickens), wheat, and dairy products.

Livestock
Oklahoma is one of the leading #5 sources of beef in the country and is the leading source of agricultural income in the state. Other important livestock products are hogs (#8), broilers (young chickens), dairy products (milk), chicken eggs, sheep and lambs, turkeys and fish (farm-raised catfish).

Crops
Oklahoma’s most valuable crop is wheat and the state ranks among the leading (#4) producers in the country.
Greenhouse and nursery products rank second with hay, cotton, soybeans, corn for grain, pecans, grain sorghum, peanuts, watermelons, and rye following.
Peaches and oats are also grown in Oklahoma.

Manufacturing
Manufacturers add value to raw products by creating manufactured items. For example, cotton cloth becomes more valuable than a boll of cotton through manufacturing processes.
Production of machinery, particularly oil field machinery, leads the manufacturing industry in Oklahoma. Construction machinery, machine parts and refrigeration and heating equipment are other types of machinery manufactured in the state.
Transportation equipment (aircraft and aerospace equipment, automobile assembly) ranks as the second most important manufacturing activity in the state followed by a variety of other items including computer and electronic equipment (electronic components, military communication systems, telephone equipment), fabricated metal products (structural metal), processed foods (meat-packing plants, animal feed, bakery products), and rubber and plastic products (tires).

Mining
Oklahoma’s most important mined products are petroleum and natural gas. The state ranks among the leading producers in the country.
Other mined products are coal, crushed stone (limestone quarries), iodine and sand and gravel. Iodine is not produced in any other state.

Services
In the services industry, the community, business and personal services group leads the way with private health care, equipment rental companies (oil field equipment, rental cars), telemarketing firms (telephone reservation systems) and repair shops.
Ranking next are the wholesale trade (food products, grain, oil and gas, transportation equipment) and retail trade (automobile dealerships, discount stores, food stores, service stations) industries along with government services (public schools, hospitals, military bases).
The third most important service industry in Oklahoma is the finance, insurance and real estate group, fueled by costs associated with the transfer of property and increasing demand for office space.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture: National Agricultural Statistics Service

History of Oklahoma Economy from 1950-2001

Primarily an agricultural state through the first half of the 20th century, Oklahoma has assumed a broader economic structure since the 1950s. Manufacturing heads the list of growth sectors, followed by wholesale and retail trade, services, finance, insurance, and real estate. Oil and gas extraction continues to play a major role. The oil industry boomed from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s.

In 1985, however, the boom ended. Prices dropped from $27 a barrel to $13 a barrel within a month in 1985. In 1998, gas and oil production was valued at only $3.4 billion; one-third of what it was worth in the mid-1980s. Oklahoma’s unemployment rate, which averaged about 3% in the early 1980s, jumped to 9% in 1983, and then fell to 7% in 1985, and rose again, to 8%, in 1986. Since then, the economy has undergone a slow but steady recovery. Unemployment was at 3.4% in 1999. Gains in manufacturing made up for the losses in mining. Manufacturing output, however, peaked in 1999, and by 2001 had fallen 9.2%. The state’s overall growth rate, which accelerated from 3.5% in 1998 to 3.9% in 1999 to 6.5% in 2000, fell back to 3.2% in the national recession and slowdown of 2001. The main growth sectors in terms of output coming into the 21st century (1997 to 2001) were general services (up 26.8%), government (up 24.2%), financial services (up 2.5%) and trade (up 21.3%). The impact of the national slowdown is expected to be mitigated by Oklahoma’s military installations (Fort Sill and Tinder Air Force Base are two of the state’s top five employers) in a time of rising defense spending, and by its oil and gas industry as prices reach new highs in 2003.

In 2001, Oklahoma’s gross state product gross state product was $93.9 billion, the 29th largest among the states, to which general services contributed $17.6 billion; government, $15.8 billion; trade, $15.4 billion; manufacturing, $13 billion; financial services, $11.9 billion; transportation and public utilities, $8.8 billion; and construction, $3.9 billion. The public sector in 2001 constituted 16.8% of gross state product, well above the 12% average for the states.
source:Oklahoma-Economy

Mayor Mick Cornett of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma talks about his city; He says, Oklahoma City unemployment rate is 4.6 vs 7.6 national rate; Cornett creates city where people want to live and jobs will come.– Feb 2009 Unemployment Reports

Manufacturing lost 16,000 jobs in May, according to commission reports. From May 2008 to May 2009, mining and logging jobs decreased more than 13 percent and manufacturing jobs dropped nearly 11 percent.

The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission said the unemployment rate increased to 6.3% in May.

That’s compared to 6.2% in April and 3.6% in May of 2008.

The Oklahoma rate is still lower than the national average which is 9.4%

Oklahoma’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 6.3 percent last month, well higher than this time last year, but much lower than the national rate.

The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission said Friday the unemployment rate in May 2008 was 3.6 percent. In April it was 6.2 percent. Last month’s national rate was 9.4 percent and many states topped 10 percent.

Over the last year, Oklahoma unemployment increased by 48,590 people.

The state has an overall labor force of nearly 1.8 million and more than 111,000 people are unemployed.—Associated press June 2009

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The process of understanding personal finance is understanding “about us” and “about money.” This subject matter is not just about cashing cash, checks, paying bills, and meeting our monthly obligations but also about accumulating enough wealth to achieve family goals and aspirations through the application of sound financial principles and behavior.

While it is true that money is not “everything,” the bible is saying that money “answereth all things” and the “love of money is the root of all evil.” So why are we talking about money? And what does it mean to us? Is it good or evil? Does it give us happiness or or misery? Is it something we should strive for or a goal in itself?

My take is that, regardless of our personal feelings and approach to money, at the very least, we could hardly question that it is a means to an end. Unless we are able to build our own house, farm our own food, and make our own clothes, money is the vehicle to basic sustenance. Beyond that, we can all agree that money helps to achieve education, allow us to travel, and give us the ability to spend time doing things other than work. That is, money can make our life better and easier. And that’s what personal finance is all about – managing money with an end in mind of achieving goals, while avoiding the problems that arise when there isn’t enough money.

Actually, having or not having enough money causes us problems but of different kind and level. The truth is, it is us who have the problems and not the money itself. So in this topic, let’s assume that everyone of us clearly understood the purpose of money in this life.

Money is not equal to Wealth

It sounds like strange but money is just a commodity. It is something that could be traded around in bushels, barrels, or boxes; stored in silos and warehouses; or sold in lots and shipped in rail cars to the highest bidder. We use money to receive the value of what we produce by working, selling, or investing and to transfer that value to something else (food, transportation, clothing, shelter, or pleasure) that we need or want. Having money by itself, doesn’t really mean anything about wealth; as we know, we can have more than enough money but we can’t eat the food we want because it’s prohibited for us to take due to sickness. Or we can have money in our pocket say US$4,000 but we owe $5,000 dollar on our credit card bill.

Personal Finance “literacy” is becoming more and more important. Financial illiteracy is increasingly a handicap. It is not only important to pay attention to all facets of our personal finances; but also to be able to talk to professionals if you don’t do you own financial planning.

Issues of Personal Finance

a. Overspending

Almost everyone succumbs to the temptation to overspend at one time or another, but chronic overspending is a serious problem. Debts pile up quickly and form a barrier to achieving other financial and personal goals.

b. Surprises
Failing to plan in advance can give us an unpleasant surprise as you suddenly find ourselves struggling to pay those “surprise” insurance and utility bills at the end of the month.

c. Procrastination
Most of us tend to put things off, particularly for long-term goals and needs. Saving for retirement or college is more effective if we start earlier rather than later, even if we start in small increments.

d. Using emotion, not reason.

Allowing our emotions to cloud your mind can result in poor financial decision-making. Deals that look too good to be true usually are. Four-day weekends are fund and necessary at times, but are really worth a thousand dollars? Emotions and feelings must be tempered with reasons.

e. Financial Personality Clashes

What do we do if we are a spender and our spouse is a saver? We build a workable financial plan that relies on each person’s strengths to carry it out.

Personal Finance Defined

It is the management of individual or family financial resources to create enough wealth to achieve the basic needs, chosen lifestyle, and aspirations and goals of the individual or family. The objective here is to reach our family’s goals, in terms of both keeping what you have and obtaining what we want. We must be in-charge with our finances as a family because others will not. We must be CFOs or Chief Financial Officer of our own finances for our own benefit.

3 Basic Principles of Personal Finance

1. Money, income, and wealth aren’t the same.
Personal finance isn’t just about money or how much we make-it’s about how much we keep. Personal finance is concerned with wealth and the accummulation, preservation, and distribution of that wealth.

2. personal Finance isn’t just about the tools – it’s about behavior.
Personal finance requires the right set of behaviors to make the tools and techniques work (banking, investments, insurance, and retirement plans).

3. Personal Finance is a full-time job.
Personal finance is more than just sitting down once a month to pay bills. We must be aware of our responsibilities all the time – otherwise all that we strive for is liable to be wrecked in an instant.

Article next would discuss more about being CFO – Chief Financial Officer.

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How it works?

—Magnetic Fuel Saver through directional magnetic field is a “charged” or energy field. When liquids or gases flow through this charged field, the charged particles of the atoms that form the molecules are “excited” (become more active) and realign in the direction of the magnetic field. This increased molecular activity caused by the directional magnetic “energy” field will cause molecular clusters to break up, where clusters form, or cause individual molecules to more aggressively and more completely combine with other compounds or atoms as in the case of fuel molecules (hydrocarbons). This allows the fuel molecules to more readily and more completely combine with oxygen during combustion (burn) in the firing chamber or cylinder of a combustion engine.

—Magnetic Fuel Saver makes use of its unique Ultra Power technology shield and focus the optimum magnetic field strength onto the fuel line  that is desirable to cause the fuel molecules to break apart. More importantly, the hydocarbons are broken up so that HC + radicals are formed which would readily combined with air O2- to give an efficient combustion.

—Other devices may not create the “specifically directed magnetic field” necessary for proper interaction with fuel flowing in the gas line. In addition, magnetic strength loss from heat causes a dramatic loss in a magnets ability to effectively condition fuels. A “random” magnetic field, which other devices rely upon, particularly if weakened by the normal heat generated by an engine, may or may not reach the fuel, resulting in inconsistent performance at best.

Simply, Magnetic Fuel Saver technology to work effectively on combustion powered engines, the magnetic field must penetrate the fuel line at a sufficient strength to cause a significant degree of reaction to directly affect the fuel molecules. Random magnetic fields, by definition, are non-directional and therefore effectiveness is severely limited.

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