youngstown/warren Jobless claims rise, tied to plant shutdown

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A large increase in unemployment claims in the Youngstown- Warren area the first week in December is attributed primarily to the temporary shutdown of the Lordstown General Motors Assembly plant to reduce inventory of the Chevrolet Cruze.

This moved Youngstown-Warren from the lowest elevated level of new unemployment claims to the highest among the large Ohio regions for four consecutive weeks.

This week, Youngstown-Warren retains the highest elevated level of new unemployment claims among Ohio’s seven urban regions.

Despite the negative development, the Mahoning Valley had a “job-growth” situation during 18 of the past 24 weeks. And the uptick in unemployment claims in the Youngstown-Warren area may be temporary because the GM Lordstown Assembly plant resumed production during the week ending Dec. 24 before closing down for another week, according to George Zeller, an economic research analyst based in Cleveland.

Zeller based his comments on data released Thursday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the U.S. Bureau of Labor. The new data are for the fourth week of December and the 13th week of the fourth quarter of 2011.

Eight weeks ago, a streak of 12 consecutive weeks when Youngstown-Warren measured a clear “job-growth” reading was barely broken, mainly because of deterioration in Trumbull County. But, Youngstown-Warren then started a streak of five consecutive weeks with a “job-growth” reading, Zeller said.

The national data were “somewhat positive but mixed” this week, but the Ohio unemployment data continued to be discouraging as unemployment claims grew across the state, particularly during the first week of December, not just in the Youngstown-Warren area, Zeller said.

All of the other six Ohio urban regions also had elevated “job-destruction” levels of new unemployment claims in this week’s new update in 68 of Ohio’s 88 counties.