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Valley unemployment rate up year over year
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
PNC Economist Mekael Teshome says the story behind the Mahoning Valley’s local unemployment figures for April is that “it’s a really bumpy road to recovery for this region.”
The April figures released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services show an increase from a nonseasonally adjusted 5.8 percent reported in April 2015 to 6.4 percent in April 2016.
Economists say the rate increase is because the civilian labor force, or the sum of the employed and unemployed, went from 248,000 up to 249,000
“That’s a sign of confidence,” Teshome said. “There’s some economic recovery in the region.”
After the recession, the Valley saw employment growth with the boom in energy.
Then came a roadblock in 2014 when energy prices started to drop, which cost the area several jobs. Youngstown pipe plant Vallourec Star made workforce reductions and Exterran, an oil and gas production equipment plant located in Youngstown, went on an indefinite shutdown, for example.
“We saw a large amount of layoffs in a spurt,” said Bert Cene, director of the Workforce Development Board for Mahoning and Columbiana counties. “At least it has stabilized.”
The board has seen job orders across a range of industry come in at a steady rate.
With an older workforce, Cene said there’s still a need for manufacturing workers with skills.
“Whether the economy gets any worse or booms [employers] are still going to need people to handle these jobs,” Cene said.
In Mahoning County, the unemployment rate in April 2016 was 6.2 percent compared with 5.7 percent reported in April 2015. The number of unemployed increased from 6,100 to 6,600 while the number of employed stayed the same and the civilian labor force increased from 106,800 to 107,300.
In Trumbull County, the unemployment rate jumped from 6.1 percent to 6.7 percent. The number of unemployed went from 5,600 to 6,200 while the number of employed stayed the same and the civilian labor force jumped from 91,500 to 92,000.
In Columbiana County, the unemployment rate went up from 5.5 percent to 6.6 percent. The number of unemployed increased from 2,700 to 3,300 while the number of employed increased by 200 and the civilian labor force went from 49,300 to 50,100.
“Too many [potential workers] still don’t have a job,” said George Zeller, a Cleveland-based economist. “We still have this weakness in manufacturing and government.”
Ohio’s unemployment rate rose again in April as 13,600 jobs were lost over the month.
ODJFS said Friday that the seasonally adjusted state unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in April, up from 5.1 percent in March. February’s rate was 5 percent.
The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in April was 302,000, up 8,000 from March. The number of unemployed has increased by 15,000 compared with the same time last year. But state officials say 71,900 jobs were added over the past year despite the losses.