The Vice President and Oklahoma City Branch Executive at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Chad Wilkerson, addressed the Bartlesville Rotary Club #2476 on Monday at the Bartlesville Community Center.

During the midday meeting, Wilkerson said the Federal Reserve is monitoring the Coronavirus closely. He said they will keep talking with branch executives and others about the Coronavirus issue leading up to the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

The Federal Reserve wants to hear from business contacts and how it is affecting their supply chain. Wilkerson said if anyone has any concerns about the Coronavirus and its impact on the economy, he said the Federal Reserve would like to talk about it with you because they want to have a good handle on it by their next FOMC meeting.

On Friday afternoon, the Federal Reserve released a statement, which said: “The fundamentals of the U.S. Economy remain strong, however, the Coronavirus possesses an evolving risk to economic activity. The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the outlook, and will use their tools and act appropriately to support the economy.”

The statement was read by Wilkerson during the Bartlesville Rotary Club's meeting.

The other half of Wilkerson's presentation on Monday focused on Oklahoma's Economy. Wilkerson said that the economy in Oklahoma slowed in 2019 while the United States economy did not. He said a slowdown in the state's oil and gas sector drove the downturn this past year.

Employment has changed in Oklahoma versus the nation over the past year. Wilkerson said the biggest sector decline in Oklahoma has been in mining, which is almost completely comprised of oil and gas. He said jobs in this area are nearly down 12-percent.

The decline has bled into other sectors, parts of which are related to oil and gas (i.e. manufacturing, construction, professional business services, regional hospitality, and State and Local Government). Still, there is continued strength in transportation, private education, health, trade, and to a degree, Federal Government. Aside from that, Wilkerson said Oklahoma's sectors ended up flat or declining, especially toward the end of 2019.

Oil and gas has fundamentally been impacted by low prices. Wilkerson said the biggest problem has been that natural gas prices continue to drop below a profitable level while supply remains abundant. He said despite this slow down, condition in Oklahoma remain in good condition.

Despite the energy slow down, unemployment remains low in Oklahoma and it is lower than the national average. Wilkerson said banking conditions are also very good. He added that real estate conditions are also relatively solid as we head deeper into what may be a difficult year for the State of Oklahoma across the board.