Wednesday, July 21, 2010
By GRACE WYLER
youngstown
Mahoning Valley unemployment continued to decline last month compared to 2009 as employers showed signs of cautious optimism.
The combined unemployment rate for Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties was 12 percent in June, down from 13.9 percent in the same month last year, the state reported Tuesday.
Area unemployment increased slightly from 11.8 percent in May 2010, but joblessness remains below the 2010 high of 14.5 percent recorded in March.
“I think there is a much more optimistic attitude,” said Jessica Borza, chief operating officer for One-Stop employment agencies in Mahoning and Columbiana counties. “Business seems to be picking up.”
Still, hiring is slow as employers remain cautious about the economy’s stability, she said.
“Companies are playing it a little bit more conservatively,” Borza said. “They may be staffing to the minimum that they need to meet their orders without any large-scale expansions.”
As high unemployment persists, local residents looking for work may get a little relief from an extension of unemployment benefits. The U.S. Senate voted 60-40 Tuesday to proceed with a vote on legislation that would extend jobless benefits through the end of November.
Although there is hope the worst is over, recent fluctuations in the unemployment rate make it difficult to predict the local employment situation for the remainder of 2010, said Bert Cene, director of the Mahoning and Columbiana Training Association, which oversees work-force investment.
Work-force development officials have not yet seen a significant trend toward hiring, he said.
“We have seen a pickup in job orders, but we see nothing we can point to and say it’s sustainable or a trend,” Cene said. “The stimulus has generated jobs, and now the question is if the economy is stable enough to sustain those jobs.”
In Mahoning County, joblessness was 11.5 percent, down from 13.1 percent in June 2009. Unemployment increased marginally from 11.4 percent in May 2010.
In Youngstown, unemployment was 13.5 percent last month, down from 14.4 percent in June 2009. Unemployment was up from 13.3 percent in May.
The city had the highest June unemployment rate of the 65 Ohio cities recorded, according to the state’s data.
Unemployment decreased to 12.2 percent in Trumbull County, down from 14.5 percent in June 2009. Joblessness was up from 11.8 percent in May 2010.
Warren’s unemployment was 13.1 percent in June, a significant drop from 15.6 percent in June 2009. The rate increased from 12.3 percent in May.
Columbiana County unemployment rate was 12.6 percent last month, down from 14.1 percent in June 2009. Unemployment was up from 12.4 percent in May 2010.
The seasonally adjusted state unemployment was 10.5 percent in June, down slightly from 10.7 percent in May. Local unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted, however.
Clinton County maintained the highest joblessness rate, at 16.8 percent. Geauga County had the state’s lowest unemployment rate, at 7.3 percent.
Nationally, the jobless rate declined in 39 states and Washington, D.C., last month, the Labor Department said. That’s a slight improvement from May, when 37 states saw their rates decline.
But only 21 states saw net job gains in June, the government said. That compared with 41 the previous month, and is the fewest this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.