Ohio joblessness down for 14th month

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio’s jobs picture has continued its long and steady improvement, with the state’s unemployment rate going down for the 14th month in a row.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said today that joblessness fell last month to 8.6 percent, from 8.9 percent in March.

The state showing in April was better than the nation’s. The U.S. unemployment rate for the month was 9.0 percent, up from 8.8 percent in March.

The Ohio rate has gone down steadily since hitting a more than 25-year high of 10.6 percent in February 2010.

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in April was 509,000, down from 527,000 in March. Officials say the state’s payrolls outside of farms grew by 8,600 last month.