Valley Cities Again Top State Unemployment Rankings

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Local unemployment rates were again among the highest in the state last month, even as unemployment rates in the area declined. 

Warren and Youngstown held the highest unemployment rates among Ohio cities, and their respective counties, Trumbull and Mahoning, were in the top 10, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which released data for April this morning. 

Warren’s April unemployment rate was the highest among Ohio cities tracked, 6.0%, down from 7.5% the month before and from 6.7% in April 2018. The Youngstown unemployment rate was 5.9%, down from 7.2% in March and from 6.4% in April 2018. 

The Trumbull County unemployment rate was 5.3%, the third highest among Ohio counties. That was down from 6.6% in March and from 5.7% in April 2018. 

Mahoning County’s unemployment rate was 4.9%, down from 6.1% the month before and from 5.4% in April 2018, but still the seventh highest in the state. Columbiana County posted a 3.8% unemployment rate, compared with 4.9% a year earlier and 4.8% in March. 

The Youngstown-Warren-Boardman metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio and Mercer County, Pa., reported a 4.8% unemployment rate in April, down from 5.3% a year earlier and from 5.9% in March. The rate in the Ohio-only portion of the MSA was 5.1% last month, compared with 6.3% the month before and 5.5% in April 2018. 

Statewide, unemployment was 4.3% in April, down from 4.4% in March and from 4.6% in April 2018. 

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.