Report has grim numbers for Ohio economy

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Ohio’s economy hasn’t fully recovered after the 2007 recession ended six years ago, according to a new report from Policy Matters Ohio.

“Left Behind: The State of Working Ohio 2015” reported Ohio had 35,400 fewer jobs in June than when the recession officially started in December 2007, a 0.7 percent loss.

Ohio had 5.3 million jobs in June, more than 240,000 fewer jobs than in 2000, which was the peak job year.

“Weak job growth and real wage decline are at the root of Ohio’s deep labor market woes on Labor Day,” Amy Hanauer, executive director of Policy Matters Ohio, said in a statement.

Hanauer is the author of the report, which found Ohio labor force participation also has shrunk since 2003. In 2014, it was at 62.8 percent, lower than at any time since 1979. Between the recession start and June 2015, 236,000 people left Ohio’s labor force.

While overall unemployment in Ohio and the nation were half of what they were at the height of the recent recession, the African-American unemployment rate was at 11.9 percent in 2014, more than twice that of white Ohioans at 4.7 percent.

According to the report, Ohio’s median wage dipped last year to $16.05 an hour and remains lower than in all but eight of the last 36 years when adjusted for inflation.

In the same year, Ohio’s median wage was more than 5 percent less than the national. Ohio men earned $3.30 more each hour at $17.94 compared with $14.64 for women. The median black worker earned just 76 percent of what the median white worker did.

The report shows that unionized workers earned about 32 percent more than nonunion workers at $20.17 an hour compared with $15.27.

“While the numbers are grim, we see a renewed commitment by many activists, advocates and regular Ohioans to create an Ohio economy that works for everyone,” Hanauer said. “Some solutions generating excitement include raising Ohio’s minimum wage, building a stronger union economy, and investing in child care and early education to create jobs, help parents work and position our children better for tomorrow.”