Valley’s unemployment rate up 0.8 percent in September

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning Valley’s unemployment rate jumped nearly 1 percent year-over-year to 6.2 percent.

Last September, the nonseasonally adjusted jobless rate was 5.4 percent.

The total number of unemployed was 15,200, up from 13,200, and the number of employed dropped from 233,000 in September 2015 to 229,800.

The Valley’s civilian labor force, which is the sum of the employed and unemployed, dropped by 1,000 to 245,000 in September 2016.

“We still remain in recovery, but that recovery got weaker this month and last month,” said George Zeller, a Cleveland-based economist. “This has been statewide, not just a problem in the Valley.”

Ohio’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 4.8 percent in September 2016, up from 4.7 percent in August.

The goods-producing industry in the state lost 3,800 jobs: 2,600 in construction and 1,200 in manufacturing.

“The usual problem is manufacturing,” Zeller said. “That’s a serious problem because that’s what drives the good news.”

In Mahoning County alone, the jobless rate was 6.1 percent, compared with 5.3 percent in September 2015.

In Trumbull County, the jobless rate was 6.3 percent, compared with 5.5 percent in September 2015.

In Columbiana County, the jobless rate was 6.3 percent, compared with 5.3 percent in September 2015.

The U.S. unemployment rate for September was 5 percent, up from 4.9 percent in August and down from 5.1 percent in September 2015.