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Valley’s unemployment jobs with civilian labor force
By KALEA HALL
YOUNGSTOWN
Mahoning Valley’s non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate was down by more than 1 percent in August from August 2014.
There were more employed in the Valley last month than in August 2014, and there were fewer people unemployed, according to data released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
But Cleveland-based economist George Zeller says the drop in the jobless rate reflects the drop in the civilian labor force of 1,000.
“We did gain jobs, but our growth rate was slow,” he said.
The Valley’s unemployment rate in August was 5.2 percent, down from 6.6 percent in August 2014. The number of employed went from 235,600 to 237,800, and the number of unemployed dropped from 16,600 to 13,000. The civilian labor force went from 252,000 to 251,000.
Zeller says this is the 34th- straight month the state has been behind the nation’s job-growth rate.
Ohio still is 42,800 jobs short from the recession and is 225,100 jobs short from 2000, he said.
The lack of jobs has led to a decline in the civilian labor force in the Valley and elsewhere in Ohio.
The civilian labor force is the sum of those employed and unemployed. It includes those 16 and older working or looking for work. A drop in the labor force shows that workers have retired and others have left the workforce.
From 2010 to 2015, the Valley’s civilian labor force has dropped by 8.5 percent with Trumbull County’s dropping by the most at 12.1 percent.
Just in Mahoning County, the jobless rate dropped from 6.4 percent to 5.2 percent. In Trumbull County, the jobless rate was 5.4 percent in August 2015, down from 6.9 percent. And in Columbiana County, the jobless rate went from 6.3 percent down to 4.9 percent.
Ohio’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate reported Friday was 4.7 percent in August, down from 5 percent in July.
The U.S. unemployment rate for August was 5.1 percent, down from 5.3 percent in July and 6.1 percent in August 2014.