Ohio unemployment rates showed a slight drop during the month of October coming in at 6.9% compared to 7.1% in September. While Williams County dropped slightly to 6.8% in October, Fulton County dropped a bit more from 6.5% to 6.2% from September to October.
Statewide the number of unemployed workers dropped by 10,000 from 406,000 to 396,000. This amounts to an annual decrease of 88,000 from the October 2011 figures. It is also a decrease of 1.4% as October 2011 unemployment rates were at 8.3%.
Fulton County remains locked in at 50th place in the county ranking report but Williams County dropped from 37th place in September to 34th place in October.
Overall, 74 of Ohio’s 88 counties saw decreases in their unemployment rates during the month of October. Mercer County continues to enjoy the lowest rate in the state at 3.8%, a slight decrease from September’s rate of 3.9%. Pike County also remains in the #1 spot with the highest rate of unemployment at 11.5% which held steady from September.
Eight counties had unemployment rates at or below 5.0 percent in October. The counties with the lowest rates, other than Mercer were: Holmes, 4.2; Delaware, 4.5; Auglaize and Geauga, 4.7; Putnam, 4.9; and Medina, 5.0 percent.
Ten counties had unemployment rates above 9.0 percent during October. The counties with the highest rates, other than Pike were: Meigs, 10.1; Huron, 9.8; Jefferson and Vinton, 9.6; Scioto, 9.5; Jackson, 9.4; Clinton, 9.3; Adams, 9.2; and Morgan, 9.1 percent.
November 2012 unemployment rates and nonagricultural wage and salary data for Ohio will be released by ODJFS on Friday, December 21, 2012. County, city and metropolitan area unemployment rates will be available on Friday, December 28, 2012. This information and the monthly statistical summaries it is based on are also available at http://ohiolmi.com/laus/releases.htm.