Valley’s unemployment rate creeps up

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning Valley’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6 percent in May 2016, according to figures released today by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Last May, the Valley’s unemployment rate was 5.8 percent.

The number of unemployed in the tri-county area of Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties went from 14,600 in May 2015 to 15,100 in May 2016.

The number of employed went down by 300 and the civilian labor force, which is the sum of the employed and unemployed, went unchanged at 250,000.

Ohio’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate reported last Friday was 5.1 percent in May, down from 5.2 percent in April.

Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 9,200 over the month, from a revised 5,477,600 in April to 5,486,800 in May .

The U.S. unemployment rate for May was 4.7 percent, down from 5.0 percent in April and down from 5.5 percent in May 2015.