Mixed report in Valley's unemployment figures

YOUNGSTOWN

The number of unemployed continues to fall in the Mahoning Valley, but so does the area’s civilian labor force.

In October, the valley’s non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate dropped down to 5.3 percent from 5.5 percent in October 2014. The number of unemployed went from 14,100 down to 13,200.

But the number of employed also dropped during the month from 240,500 down to 236,400. The civilian labor force, or the total of employed and unemployed, went from 255,000 in October 2014 down to 250,000 in October 2015.

The unemployment rate for Trumbull County in October 2015 was 5.5 percent – down from 5.8 percent; in Mahoning County alone the rate dropped from 5.4 percent down to 5.2 percent; and Columbiana County’s rate in October 2015 stayed the same at 5.2 percent.

Ohio’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 4.4 percent in October 2015, down from 4.5 percent in September, according to data released Friday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.