Improvement shown in Mahoning Valley unemployment levels

The Mahoning Valley will struggle to return to the low unemployment levels of last year even when the national economy rebounds, a local official said.

“Given what’s happened with the auto industry, I don’t think we will get back to where we were,” said Bert Cene, director of the Mahoning Columbiana Training Association.

Drastic cutbacks by domestic automakers have taken away work for auto suppliers in the area, and it is expected to take years for national auto sales to return to peak levels.

The struggles in the auto industry is a major reason why the local unemployment rate has been running about twice what it was a year ago.

Figures released Monday by the state show a bit of improvement for the Mahoning Valley, however.

The combined rate for Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties edged down to 13.2 percent in May from 13.3 percent in April.

“That’s beautiful,” said Cene, who has been looking for any positive signs after the local jobless rate jumped to 13.8 percent in January. “We’re still stagnant, but we’re hoping this is bottoming out.”

The combined rate for the three counties was 6.5 percent in May 2008.

For the complete story, see Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com