By: Chelsie Firestone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
Both Williams and Fulton Counties saw a slight rise in their number of unemployed between November and December. In that time frame Fulton County moved 4.4% of 5.1% while Williams County saw a slight increase from 4.0% to 4.1%. Of Ohio’s 88 counties, 68 saw a similar increase in their number of employed while 9 others saw decreasing numbers. The remainder remained unchanged. With so many counties seeing increasing numbers, Williams County saw improved on the state ranking chart despite its increase. The county moved from 60th to 63rd. Fulton County, however, took a fall, moving from 49th on the chart to 34th.
Despite the increase in county numbers, the State of Ohio saw a decrease from 5.0% to 4.8% over the same time frame. Likewise, U.S. unemployment dropped from 5.8% to 5.6%. The number of unemployed throughout the state was down 9000, from 287,000 to 278,000 over the course of the month.
Statewide, unemployment ranged from a low of 2.6% in Mercer County to 10.0% in Monroe County. Counties in Ohio with the lowest rates include Mercer (2.6%), Holmes (2.9%), Auglaize (3.1%), Delaware (3.1%), and Hancock (3.4%). Counties with the highest rates included Monroe (10.0%), Ottawa (8.4%), Meigs (8.1%), Huron (7.9%), Morgan (7.9%), Pike (7.6%), and Scioto (7.2%).
Throughout the state, job growth was seen in leisure and hospitality (+7100), professional and business services (+3800), educational and health services (+2500), manufacturing (+1500), construction (+1400), and federal government (+300). Losses were seen in trade, transportation, and utilities (-6200); other services (-1900); financial activities (-1200); state government (-1000), information (-700), and local government (-500). No change was seen in mining and logging.
Ohioans wishing to learn more about unemployment benefits or who are in search of a job can visit www.ohiomeansjobs.com. The information in this article and the monthly statistical analysis it is based upon are also available at http://jfs.ohio.gov/ocomm.
Chelsie can be reached at
chelsie@thevillagereporter.com