Unemployment Spikes in Warren, Youngstown, Counties

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Warren and Youngstown reported the highest unemployment rates among Ohio’s larger cities in January, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported this morning.

Unemployment in Warren was reported at 10.7%, up a percentage point and a half from December’s 9.2% and more than two full points from January 2015’s 8.2% rate.

Youngstown had a 10.4% unemployment rate in January, up from identical 8.8% rates in December and in January 2015.

The unemployment spikes in the Mahoning Valley’s two largest cities contributed to their placement in the top 20 Ohio counties – along with Columbiana County – with the highest unemployment rates in the state.

At 9.6%, Trumbull County ranked 11th among Ohio counties in January. It was up from 7.5% a year earlier and 7.8% in December. Mahoning County’s 8.9% in January – for 16th out of Ohio’s 88 counties — was up from 7.1% a year earlier and from 7.3% in December.

In Columbiana County, which had the 20th highest unemployment rate in Ohio, the rate was 8.1%, up from 6.5% in December and from 7.1% in January 2015.

The Ohio unemployment rate in January was 4.9%, up from 4.8% in December but down from 5.1% in January 2015.

Unemployment in the metropolitan statistical area that covers Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio and Mercer County in Pennsylvania stood at 8.5% in January, up from 7.0% a year earlier and 6.9% in December. In the Ohio-only portion of the MSA, unemployment was 9.2% in January, compared with 7.5% in December and with 7.3% in January 2015.

The monthly labor market review covering the region pointed to losses of 1,900 jobs in goods-producing industries and 4,700 jobs lost in the private service-providing sector.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.