By Michael McNutt
Capitol Bureau

The state's economy continues to be robust, but low- and middle-income households in the state aren't faring as well because of stagnant wages and rising fuel, food and health care costs, a study released Tuesday shows.

The benefits of Oklahoma's solid economic growth, fueled by the oil and gas industry, aren't reaching many low- and middle-income households, according to a report from the Oklahoma Policy Institute.

"If the national economic situation worsens, will Oklahoma be able to resist an economic downturn?" asked David Blatt, the institute's policy director. "If we're not, with families already on the brink, any downturn is going to push a lot of people even further into situations of hardship."

Recent tax cuts, which resulted in a loss of about $550 million in state revenue this fiscal year, gave state government less money to spend, though the economy is healthy, he said.

Personal income for the final quarter of 2007 was up 7 percent from the previous year, ranking Oklahoma as the 10th-fastest growing economy, the report states.

Link to full text of article on Oklahoman website

This article refers to the publication "On the Brink: Oklahoma Families are Already Facing Tough Times" which can be found here.