Mahoning Valley Jobless Rates Top 20% in April

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The unemployment rates in the three-county region topped 20% in April, which is higher than the state’s rate.

In April, the month-over-month unemployment rates increased in all 88 counties, ranging from a low of 6.5% in Holmes County to 30.1% in Logan County, according to data from the Department of Job and Family Services. The state reports an unemployment rate of 17.4%, and a seasonally adjusted rate of 16.8%.

Trumbull and Columbiana counties were ranked Nos. 17 and 20 in the state’s highest unemployment rates.

In Trumbull County, the DJFS reports a not-seasonally adjusted rate of 21% with some 18,000 unemployed residents out of a labor force of nearly 86,000. That’s up from 6,200 unemployed workers in March

Columbiana County follows with an unemployment rate of 20.4%, with some 9,000 of its 47,200-member labor force unemployed, up from a reported 3,000 unemployed workers in March.

With an unemployment rate of 20.1%, Mahoning County ranked 24th in the state, reporting 20,400 residents unemployed out of a labor force of 101,500, according to DJFS. That’s up from some 7,000 unemployed workers the month prior.

The Youngstown-Warren-Boardman metropolitan statistical area – which includes Mahoning and Trumbull counties, as well as Mercer County, Pa. – reports an unemployment rate of 19.8% with 46,700 unemployed residents, up from 16,600 in March. The area reports a total labor force of 235,700.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stands at 14.7%.

Percentage-wise, two of the industries hardest hit with unemployment in April were leisure & hospitality, and accommodation & food services, which reported statewide employment drops of 48.42% (263,500 individuals) and 48.13% (223,800 individuals), respectively.

The arts, entertainment and recreation industry saw the largest employment drop percentage-wise in April at 50.13%, shedding 39,700 jobs statewide for the month.

Total nonagricultural employment dropped by 14.87% in April with 823,700 jobs lost. The private sector shed 781,700 jobs, a month-over-month decline of 16.43%.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.