Local Unemployment Rates Show Slight Increase

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Local unemployment rates in December rose slightly or were unchanged from the month before, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported this morning.

Of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, Trumbull had the highest unemployment rate, 6.1%, up from 5.8% the month before and down from 7.8% in December 2016.

Mahoning and Columbiana counties posted 5.9% unemployment rates last month. Mahoning’s rate was up three-tenths of a percentage point from  November and down from 7.4% in December 2015. Columbiana’s December rate was also unchanged from November, but down from 6.5% a year earlier.

Youngstown’s unemployment rate was 7.4% in December, up from 7.1% the month before and down nearly a point and a half from 8.8% in December 2015. Warren’s rate was 7.1%, up slightly from 7.0% in November and down more than two full points from 9.2% a year earlier.

For the metropolitan statistical area that covers Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio and Mercer County in Pennsylvania, the unemployment rate was 5.9% in December, up from 5.7% the month before and down from 6.9% in December 2015. For the Ohio-only portion of the MSA, unemployment was at 6.0%, up from 5.7% the month before and down from 7.6% a year earlier.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.