Ohio jobless rate unchanged in May

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in May, unchanged from April, the state said today.

“The labor force held steady in May,” said Helen Jones-Kelley, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. “Total employment stayed about the same as in April with slight gains in service-providing employment offsetting marginal losses in the goods-producing sector.”

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in May was 342,000, up from 339,000 in April as the size of Ohio’s work force increased by 20,000 workers to 5.42 million.