Valley unemployment rate at 8.5 percent

Valley unemployment rate at 8.5 percent

The Mahoning Valley’s unemployment rate dropped slightly in July to reach 8.5 percent.

That’s an improvement from July 2012 when it was 8.7 percent, but the labor market here continues to plod along as the unemployment rate has remained around 8 percent through the first half of the year.

Since July 2012, the labor force shed 1,000 jobs, dropping from 265,000 across Mahoning, Columbiana and Trumbull counties to 264,000 last month, according to data released today by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Economists don’t expect major gains for the remainder of this year as some of the tailwinds seen across the national and global economy that helped lift Northeast Ohio’s economy, such as growth in the manufacturing sector, are expected to drop off or remain only modest.

Even as the Youngstown area has enjoyed some of the strongest employment growth of all of Ohio’s metropolitan areas this year, the Valley’s unemployment rate has consistently remained below the state’s jobless rate, which was 7.2 percent last month.