Unemployment drops in Valley to 8.4 percent

Unemployment drops in Valley to 8.4 percent

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning Valley received a Christmas gift a few days early this year.

The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services reported Tuesday that the area’s unemployment rate in November nose-dived 2.1 percent compared to the same month last year.

The unemployment rate is now 8.4 percent, the lowest it has been since November 2008.

The Valley’s unemployment rate is now lower than the state rate, which in November was 8.5 percent.

There were 244,200 working residents in November, up from 242,500 during the same month last year. The number of unemployed dropped from 28,400 to 22,400, a 21 percent drop.

The civilian labor force, defined as people 16 and older who are working or looking for work, excluding military, students, volunteer workers and those in institutions, retired or unable to work, dropped by 4,000 year-over-year.

Read the complete story in Wednesday’s Vindicator and at Vindy.com.