Report: NE Ohio economy improving

February 15, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

By Kristen Russo

YOUNGSTOWN

Like the “Little Engine that Could,” the Northeast Ohio economy keeps chugging.

The region showed signs of gradual, continuous improvement during the fourth quarter of 2010, according to a report released by Team Northeast Ohio, a Cleveland-based nonprofit that tracks economic data for the 16-county region it calls Cleveland Plus.

Cleveland Plus includes Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning, Columbiana, Carroll, Stark, Summit, Portage, Geauga, Lake, Cuyahoga, Medina, Wayne, Lorain, Ashland and Richland counties.

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2009, employment in 2010 for the Cleveland Plus area increased by more than 30,000 jobs, with the manufacturing and services sectors of the economy adding a combined 16,000 jobs. The unemployment rate has dropped nearly 1 percent, and initial unemployment claims are down 1,500 — to 5,600 from 7,100 a year ago, according to Team NEO’s report.

“We are seeing consistent and steady improvement. Employment is trending upward,” said Jenny Febbo, vice president of marketing and communications for Team NEO. “We’re still not out of the woods yet, but the interesting point is we’re doing the same as Ohio and the nation, whereas in 1981, we were lagging.”

During the 1981 recession, Ohio lagged 7 percent behind the United States in terms of employment, according to the report.

During the fourth quarter of 2010, 9.4 percent of Ohio’s population was unemployed, while the national unemployment rate was 9.1 percent, according to the report.

The Cleveland Plus region had an unemployment rate of 9.3 percent during the fourth quarter of 2010, down from 10.2 percent during the fourth quarter of 2009, the report said. The region had 1.90 million workers employed during that period, compared with 1.93 million for the fourth quarter of 2010.

According to the data, Northeast Ohio’s gross regional product is projected to increase at a higher rate than the U.S. for 2010.

The GRP for the region is projected to increase 3.6 percent. For the U.S., it is projected to increase 2.7 percent.

Febbo said Team NEO used projections from Moody’s economy.com because 2010 GRP data have not yet been released.

GRP is the total market value of all goods and services produced in a region.

Team NEO was founded in 2003 as a joint venture among FirstEnergy Corp., the Greater Akron Chamber, the Stark Development Board, the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber and the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

The organization focuses on attracting businesses to Northeast Ohio.

Since 2007, Team NEO has brought 41 business expansions or relocations to the area, along with 3,500 jobs.