43
Unemployment rate down across the Mahoning Valley in July
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
While the nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped in the Mahoning Valley so did the civilian labor force, an indication discouraged workers have left the labor force altogether, analysts say.
In Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties, the jobless rate in July dropped from 7.2 percent in July 2014 down to 6 percent in July 2015. The civilian labor force dropped by 2,000, according to data released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
“Some say the reason for that is the baby boomers are retiring,” said George Zeller, a Cleveland-based economist. “Most of them are the workers who have been laid off and still cannot find a job.”
The Valley’s employment went up by 1,800 from 235,400 in July 2014 to 237,200 in July 2015 while unemployment dropped by 3,100 to 15,200 in July 2015.
“What we do know is that year-over-year rates are all down again,” Zeller said. “We are still short of where we were when the Great Recession started. We are growing, and that’s good, but it is too slow and they’re still workers who cannot find jobs.”
In Mahoning County, the jobless rate dropped down to 6 percent in July from 7.1 percent the previous July. Employment in the county increased by 700 and unemployment dropped by 1,200. The civilian labor force in the county declined by 400.
In Trumbull County, the jobless rate dropped from 7.6 percent to 6.2 percent year over year. Employment in the county increased by 600 while unemployment dropped by 1,400.
In Columbiana County, employment went up 500 while unemployment dropped by 500 and the civilian labor force stayed the same year over year.
Although Zeller believes the economy here and statewide isn’t producing jobs fast enough and in line with the national average, PNC Bank Economist Mekael Teshome refrains from comparing the U.S.’s rate of job growth to the local job growth.
Teshome expects to see more of the same mixed reports with a positive trajectory in the future. “The unemployment rate is coming down slowly,” he said.
Ohio’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, released Friday, was 5 percent in July 2015, down from 5.2 percent in June. Ohio’s nonfarm wage and salary employment increased 14,900 over the month, from a revised 5,384,200 in June to 5,399,100 in July 2015.
Gains were made in government employment and losses came from manufacturing and private sectors.
Total nonfarm payroll employment in the U.S. increased by 215,000 in July, and the unemployment rate went unchanged at 5.3 percent.
The Valley’s unemployment rate in June was 5.9 percent, but because it is not seasonally adjusted, economists compare the year-over-year data.