Growth in government, manufacturing drives drop in Valley's unemployment

YOUNGSTOWN

Cleveland-based economist George Zeller called the July unemployment figures in Ohio “monumental.”

That’s because his record shows a 43-month streak below the nation’s job-growth average ended last month particularly because of growth in government and manufacturing.

“This wasn’t a minor change,” Zeller said. “It was a major change, and whether we keep it up remains to be seen.”

The Mahoning Valley’s nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped 0.2 percent year-over-year to 6 percent. The number of unemployed dropped 300 from 15,400 reported in July 2015 to 15,100 in July 2016. The number of employed increased 900 from 234,100 to 235,000, according to figures released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the civilian labor force, or the sum of the unemployed and employed, stayed the same at 250,000.

Read more about these latest changes in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.