Mahoning Valley unemployment rate up 1 percent

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning Valley’s nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.2 percent during September, up 1 percent from last September.

The number of unemployed went up to 17,600 from 15,200 while the number of employed dropped to 225,600 from 228,500, according to data released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services today.

The civilian labor force, which is the sum of the employed and unemployed, dropped to 243,000 from September 2016's figure of 244,000.

Ohio’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in September, down from 5.4 percent in August.

The U.S. unemployment rate for September was 4.2 percent, down from 4.4 percent in August and down from 4.9 percent in September 2016.