Jobless Rates Trend Down, Though Valley Counties in Top 10

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Despite a decrease in unemployment for all 88 counties, Mahoning, Columbiana and Trumbull counties ranked in the top 10 unemployment rates in the state last month.

In May, state unemployment rates ranged from a low of 5.1% in Holmes County to 19.9% in Logan County, according to data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The state reports an unemployment rate of 13.4%.

Locally, Trumbull County had the highest not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate at 16.3%, ranking sixth in the state. That is down from 21% in April.

Mahoning and Columbiana counties ranked ninth and 10th, respectively, each with an unemployment rate of 15.3%. Mahoning County’s rate is down from 20.1% in April, and Columbiana County’s rate is down from 20.4% the previous month.

The two industries that saw the strongest month-over-month gains were accommodation & food Services and leisure & hospitality, which saw employment increases of 39,000 (up 16.35%) and 36,600 (up 13.14%), respectively.

Rounding out the top five industries with employment gains were trade, transportation & utilities with 31,400 more employed (up 3.49%), health-care & social assistance with 22,900 more employed (up 3.11%) and retail trade with 22,400 more employed (up 4.76%).

Government took the biggest hit to employment in May, with 23,300 jobs lost, a month-over-month decline of 3.15%. Most of that was felt by local government, which accounted for 21,300 of those lost jobs.

Total nonagricultural employment increased by 2.7% in May with 127,100 jobs gained to 4,831,100. The private sector added 150,400 jobs in May for a total of 4,114,500, a month-over-month increase of 3.79%.

Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate dropped three percentage points to 13.1% in May, while its civilian labor force – the estimated number of residents working or looking for work – was up 23,000 over April. Resident employment was up 211,000 while unemployment declined by 188,000.

In May, total nonfarm jobs in the commonwealth increased 198,300 month-over-month to 5,191,400 – the largest single-month increase on record, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

Of the 11 industry supersectors, nine recorded gains. Construction saw the largest volume gain with 77,400, recovering more than two-thirds of its losses in March and April.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.