After seeing a significant spike in unemployment in January, both Fulton and Williams County have finally seen unemployment numbers lowering to where they were in December of 2012. Fulton County, which went from 7.6% up to 10.5% between January and February, is now down to 7.4%. Williams County has seen the same trend. Rising two full points from 6.8% to 8.8% between December and January, the county unemployment rate finally came back down to 6.7% in May. These numbers have helped Williams County retain its position as 54th in the state in regards to unemployment and Fulton County to move up 11 spots from 21st to 32nd between March and May.

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While this may seem to be a turn in the right direction for a struggling economy, it should be noted that the trend has not been necessarily shared state-wide or nationally. The unemployment rate for Ohio, which rose from 6.7% to 7.0% between December and January, has stayed consistently at the 7.0% mark with very little fluctuation. While both Fulton County and Williams County have seen decreasing unemployment rates since the spike in January, 55 of Ohio’s 88 counties saw an increase in unemployment between April and May. These statistics seem to indicate that the growth in both Williams and Fulton Counties has not been seen across the Ohio as a whole, which saw its total number of unemployed grow from 400,000 to 405,000 between April and May.

Some improvement has been seen nationally, with May’s unemployment being back to the 7.6% mark that it held in December before rising to 7.9% in January.
All in all, five counties saw unemployment rates below 5.5% in May. Mercer County (4.3%), which has consistently held the best unemployment rates in the state, Holmes (4.7%), Delaware (4.9%), Auglaize (5.1%), and Union (5.2%). In comparison, six counties saw rates above 10.0%. Pike County(11.9%), continuing to languish with the worst unemployment rates in the state, Meigs (11.1%), Scioto (11.0%), Adams (10.6%), Jefferson (10.3%), and Morgan (10.1%).

Statistical summaries this article is based upon can be found at http://ohiolmi.com/laus/releases.htm. Readers looking for employment or to learn more about unemployment benefits and training are also encouraged to visit www.ohiomeansjobs.com.

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