Valley Cities Post Highest Jobless Rates, Despite Drop

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Mahoning Valley unemployment rates plunged in April from March, but remained among the highest in the state.

Youngstown and Warren, with identical rates of 7.5%, tied for highest among Ohio cities, despite each dropping at least 2.5 percentage points from March, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported this morning.

Warren’s rate in April fell three full percentage points from the month before, when it was 10.5%, although was still higher than 7.3% a year earlier. Youngstown’s unemployment rate was down from 10.1% in March, but remained ahead of 7.2% in April 2016.

The rate in Trumbull County in April was 6.2%, down three points from 9.2% in March and down from 6.6% a year earlier. The rate in Mahoning County last month of 6.0% was down from 8.7% in March and from 6.1% in April 2016.

The Trumbull County rate was the sixth-highest among the 88 Ohio counties in April, while Mahoning County’s was 11th-highest.

Columbiana County’s unemployment rate, at 5.4% in April, was 23rd. It was down from 6.8% in March and from 6.6% in April 2016.

The unemployment rate for the Youngstown-Warren metropolitan statistical area, which covers Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio and Mercer County in Pennsylvania, was 5.9% in April, down from 8.2% in March and from 6.2% in April 2016.

The rate for the Ohio-only portion of the MSA was 6.1% in April, down from 8.9% the month before and from 6.3% a year earlier.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.