In Mahoning Valley, unemployment rate falls

By GRACE WYLER

gwyler@vindy.com

youngstown

The Mahoning Valley’s unemployment rate continued to fall in May, hitting its lowest level since 2008 for the second consecutive month, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported.

The combined unemployment rate for Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties dropped to 11.8 percent last month, compared with 12.6 percent in May 2009. Joblessness also decreased from the month prior, down from 12.5 percent in April 2010.

“We are obviously very pleased to see the numbers move in a positive direction,” said Jessica Borza, chief operating officer for One-Stop employment agencies in Mahoning and Columbiana counties. “We’ve been hearing some positive indications from employers, and it looks like the numbers are finally catching up to that.”

The One-Stops in Mahoning and Columbiana counties have seen employers’ interest in hiring gradually increase over the past several months, Borza said Tuesday. May’s unemployment rate indicates that these employers have finally started taking on new workers, she said.

“It seemed like they started talking about [hiring] in late winter and early spring, and now they are making offers,” Borza said. “It’s an employers’ market — they can definitely take their time.”

It may be too early to tell whether unemployment will continue its downward trend, but May’s numbers are hopeful, Borza added.

In Mahoning County, the unemployment was 11.4 percent last month, down slightly from 11.6 percent in May 2009. The rate was 12.1 percent in April 2010.

The joblessness rate increased slightly in Youngstown, up to 13.3 percent in May 2010 compared with 13 percent for the same month in 2009. The city’s unemployment rate decreased marginally from 13.5 percent in April 2010.

In Trumbull County, joblessness was at 11.9 percent in May, compared with 13.5 percent a year earlier. The rate fell from 12.7 percent in April 2010.

Unemployment in Warren dropped more than 2 percentage points from a year prior, down to 12.3 percent last month compared with 14.4 percent in May 2009. Warren had 13.2 percent joblessness in April of this year.

Columbiana County posted the highest unemployment rate in May at 12.3 percent, down from 12.8 percent in May 2009. The rate was 13.2 percent in April 2010.

Decreases in unemployment followed a statewide trend, with 86 of Ohio’s 88 counties posting lower rates in May.

Clinton County maintained the state’s highest joblessness rate, at 16.7 percent. Delaware County posted the state’s lowest unemployment rate, at 7.2 percent.