Wednesday, October 27, 2010
By Grace Wyler
youngstown
The Valley’s unemployment rate decreased again last month as the area continued to see an uptick in hiring, particularly in the manufacturing sector.
The combined unemployment rate for Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties was 10.9 percent in September, a drop of more than 2 percentage points from the same month in 2009. Unemployment was 11.2 percent in August 2010.
The Valley joblessness rate has remained below 2009 levels since March, when unemployment hit 14.5 percent.
“It looks like we are starting to see a trend,” said Bert Cene, director of the Mahoning and Columbiana Training Association, which oversees work-force investment. “The numbers are still too high, but at least we can take some solace in the fact that we are moving in the right direction.”
Local employment agencies have noticed an uptick in hiring across several sectors, Cene said. Manufacturing continues to post some of the highest job gains.
The area’s manufacturing employment jumped by 8.9 percent in the second quarter of 2010, the nation’s largest gain in that sector, according to a report released by the Brookings Institution last month.
Trumbull County saw the most significant decline in joblessness last month. The county posted an unemployment rate of 10.8 percent, down from 13.5 percent in September 2009.
Job recalls at General Motors’ Lordstown Complex and its local suppliers have played a significant role in the county’s unemployment decline, said Bill Turner, a work-force administrator at the Trumbull County One-Stop employment agency.
But despite employment gains, joblessness remains too high, he added.
“I think we are showing an upswing, but we still have a long ways to go,” Turner said. “I would like to be optimistic, but this [recession] was a tough one.”
Mahoning County’s unemployment rate was also 10.8 percent in September, down from 12 percent the year prior.
Joblessness was highest in Columbiana County last month, at 11.2 percent. The rate fell from 13.1 percent in September 2009.
In Youngstown, the unemployment rate was 12.5 percent last month, down more than 1 percentage point from the September 2009 rate. Warren’s unemployment rate was 11.5 percent, down from 15 percent in September 2009.
Joblessness declined in 72 of Ohio’s 88 counties last month. The state’s overall unemployment rate was 10.1 percent in September, down from 10.7 percent in the same month in 2009.
The U.S. unemployment rate was 9.6 percent in September.