Bad news follows good

Bad news follows good

The past week was one of ups and downs for the Mahoning Valley. The week began with an announcement that the economy of the Mahoning Valley was growing faster than any other part of Ohio. In the year from April to April, the unemployment rate in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties fell by nearly two percent, from 9.7 to 7.9 percent.

Those figures were all the more impressive because growth in private industry jobs, especially manufacturing, was so strong that it offset significant job losses in local, state and federal jobs. In the third quarter of 2011 there were 1,100 fewer government jobs in the three county area compared to the same quarter a year earlier. Nearly 700 of those lost jobs were at the state level.

A growing private workforce is something to celebrate.

But developments at the week’s end put a damper on the festivities. RG Steel LLC announced that it was shutting down its century-old plant on Warren’s southeast side, idling 1,100 wage and salaried workers. The plant is one of three being idled by RG Steel. The company said it is attempting to raise capital to restart operations, but short term prospects for the historic plant look dim.

A short-lived celebration gives way to the harsh reality that there is yet more work to be done.