After seeing significant rises in unemployment across Ohio between December and January, unemployment rates in both Williams and Fulton County have been showing decreases over the past two months.

Williams County, which had jumped a full two points between December and January, has decreased from 8.8% in January to 7.4% in March. Likewise Fulton County, which jumped almost three full percentage points between December and January, has shown a decrease from the 10.5% mark in January to 8.9% in March. Both counties still have a ways to go before getting back to the rates they had in December, at which time Williams County had an unemployment rate of 6.8% and Fulton County had a rate of 7.6%.

The decrease in unemployment rates has moved Williams County up eight spots in the state ranking, from 46th in January to 54th in March. Fulton County, on the other hand, lost one spot and moved from 22nd in January to 21st in March.

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Mercer County still maintains the lowest unemployment rate in the state but has seen an increase from 3.9% to 4.6% between January and March. Pike County also maintains its spot with the highest unemployment in the state but has seen a decrease from 15.3% in January to 13.4% in March.

Only six counties have unemployment rates at or below 6.0% in Ohio: Mercer (4.6%), Delaware (4.9%), Holmes (5.1%), Auglaize (5.4%), Union (5.7%), and Hancock. Eight counties currently have unemployment rates at or above 11.0%: Pike (15.3%), Morgan (12.3%), Meigs (12.2%), Huron (12.1%), Adams (12.0%), Ottawa (11.9%), Vinton (11.6%), and Scioto (11.2%).

The decrease in unemployment across Fulton and Williams Counties is consistent with the decrease in unemployment across the nation, which has fallen from 7.9% in January to 7.6% in March. However, the State of Ohio as a whole has seen an increase in unemployment as the rate has moved from 7.0% in January to 7.1% in March, with an additional 7,000 Ohioans out of work.

Statistical summaries this article is based upon can be found at http://ohiolmi.com/laus/releases.htm.

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