New Valley unemployment data reinforce struggles many endure

By Don Shilling

Jerry Matuscak and James Kitchen are out of work, and so far, out of luck.

Both men have tried to find jobs through friends, reading help-wanted ads and knocking on doors. Nothing has worked as local unemployment rates hover at 25-year highs.

Numbers released by the state Tuesday show the lingering pain. The combined unemployment rate for Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties dipped slightly to 13.3 percent in March, but it is still nearly double what it was a year ago.

Youngstown’s jobless rate of 14 percent was the highest for any metropolitan area in the state.

With odds stacked against them, Matuscak and Kitchen came to the Mahoning County One-Stop office in Boardman for the first time to see what was listed in its database.

“I’m looking for anything at this point,” said Matuscak, 40, of Struthers.

He’s even started looking for part-time work, although he’s not excited about that.

“I definitely need a full-time job, but they are hard to come by, especially in this area,” he said.

Both men are victims of the recession.

Matuscak was laid off in February from Star Extruded Shapes in Canfield as industrial orders slowed. He had been a forklift operator there for nearly four years.

Kitchen, 39, of Austintown, had worked at Brentwood Originals in Youngstown for 17 years, including the past 14 as a shipping supervisor. The maker of decorative pillows laid him off in December because of a lack of work and told him he wouldn’t be coming back.

He’s been looking for work since January but hasn’t even had an interview.

“Sometimes I get discouraged. Sometimes I get bored sitting around the house waiting for someone to call,” he said.

At least his unemployment benefits will continue to arrive.

Normal unemployment benefits last 26 weeks, but the federal government has issued several extensions. In states with high unemployment, such as Ohio, benefits have been extended to 79 weeks. Those additional payments may expire at the end of this year, however, depending on the state’s jobless rate and action by Congress.

The latest jobless figures remain high, but they give hope to Bert Cene, director of the Mahoning-Columbiana Training Association.

“What we’re hoping for at this point is that we’ve hit bottom with the recession,” he said.

Jobless rates for Trumbull and Columbiana counties dropped slightly from February to March and stayed the same in Mahoning County.

If the jobless numbers have leveled off, that might mean a recovery is coming, he said. It will take time to tell, however, because job increases lag the start of a recovery. With all of the excess inventory at industrial plants, suppliers to steel and auto companies will not need to hire right away even when orders pick up, he said. As the area waits for a recovery, there is no shortage of people looking for jobs or training assistance, he said.

“People are still coming in,” he said.

On a visit Tuesday, all of the stations at the One-Stop in Boardman were full, and people were waiting. Cene said he expects the number of people seeking help to increase even more because federal stimulus money is being used for more outreach campaigns.

shilling@vindy.com