By: James Pruitt
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
Northwest Ohio continues to see some of the lowest unemployment rates in Ohio.
Williams County’s August (not seasonally adjusted) rate was 4.1 percent, tied for 63rd highest in the state. Fulton County was 4.0 (67th).
Other counties in the region showed similar results. Defiance was 4.4, Henry 4.2, Lucas 4.9 and Wood .0.
Mercer County had the lowest at 3.0 percent, while Monroe was the highest at 9.0. Statewide, the seasonally adjusted rate was 4.7 percent, down 0.1 percent from July, but up 0.1 percent from August 2015.
The statewide not seasonally adjusted rate was 4.7 percent in August, up from 4.8 percent in July and up from 4.4 percent in August 2015.
The national seasonally adjusted rate was 4.9 percent in August, last year it was 5.1 percent.
The Labor Force estimate has Williams County with 800 unemployed workers and Fulton with 900.
Ohio and U.S. Employment Situation (Seasonally Adjusted)
Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in August 2016, down from 4.8 percent in July. Ohio’s non-agricultural wage and salary employment decreased 2,000 over the month, from a revised 5,505,400 in July to 5,503,400 in August 2016.
The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in August was 272,000, down 6,000 from 278,000 in July. The number of unemployed has increased by 9,000 in the past 12 months from 263,000. The August unemployment rate for Ohio was 0.1 percentage points higher than the August 2015 rate of 4.6 percent.
The U.S. unemployment rate for August was 4.9 percent, unchanged from July and down from 5.1 percent in August 2015.
Total Non-agricultural Wage and Salary Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)
Ohio’s non-agricultural wage and salary employment decreased 2,000 over the month, from a revised 5,505,400 in July to 5,503,400 in August 2016, according to the latest business establishment survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics) in cooperation with ODJFS.
Goods-producing industries, at 905,100, added 2,600 jobs over the month in construction (+2,100), manufacturing (+400), and mining and logging (+100). The private service-providing sector, at 3,812,900, lost 7,600 jobs. Employment losses in professional and business services (-5,500), trade, transportation, and utilities (-2,400), other services (-2,400), and educational and health services (-1,600), exceeded gains in leisure and hospitality (+2,600), financial activities (+1,600), and information (+100). Government employment, at 785,400, increased 3,000 as gains in local (+3,100) and federal (+200) government outweighed losses in state government (-300).
From August 2015 to August 2016, non-agricultural wage and salary employment grew 78,300. Employment in goods-producing industries increased 6,000.
Construction added 7,600 jobs over the year. Manufacturing employment increased 1,000 as gains in nondurable goods (+8,300) surpassed losses in durable goods (-7,300). Mining and logging lost 2,600 jobs over the year. The private service-providing sector added 55,100 jobs as gains in educational and health services (+18,900), leisure and hospitality (+17,700), trade, transportation, and utilities (+8,600), financial activities (+5,300), and other services (+4,900) surpassed losses in information (-300). Professional and business services did not change over the year. Government employment increased 17,200 in state (+11,400), local (+4,300), and federal (+1,500) government.
James Pruitt may be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com