Wednesday, April 20, 2016
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
A large increase in the civilian labor force last month caused the Mahoning Valley’s jobless rate to jump 0.7 percent.
“What we have here is a mix of good news and bad news,” said George Zeller, a Cleveland-based economist.
The increase of 1,000 workers in the civilian labor force, which is the sum of the unemployed and employed, is the primary driver behind the 7.3 percent jobless rate, Zeller said.
The 7.3 percent nonseasonally adjusted jobless rate is up from 6.6 percent reported in March 2015, according to data released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
“The only good thing is that people are going back into the labor force,” Zeller said.
The increase in the labor force is both a state and national trend. Ohio’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in March, up from a revised 5 percent in February. The state’s civilian labor force increased in March, from 5,754,000 in February to 5,790,000 in March.
Zeller says the state still is not growing jobs fast enough for the workers.
Blue-collar jobs took a hit in March. The state reported losses in manufacturing, construction, mining and logging. The private sector saw the largest increase in jobs of 17,100.
“Those blue-collar losses are no good for the Valley,” Zeller said.
The number of employed in the Valley in March dropped by 600 from 231,600 reported in March 2015 to 231,000. The number of unemployed increased by 1,600 going from 16,500 in March 2015 to 18,100 in March 2016.
In Mahoning County alone, the unemployment rate jumped to 7 percent from 6.5 percent
Trumbull County’s March rate increased from 6.9 percent to 7.5 percent.
In Columbiana County, the unemployment rate went from 6.3 percent in march 2015 up to 7.5 percent in March 2016.
All three counties saw an increase in the civilian labor force.