Mahoning Valley’s July unemployment rate drops

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning Valley’s nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped from 7.8 percent in July 2017 to 6.2 percent in July 2018, according to Ohio Department of Job and Family Services data released Tuesday.

Employment did not increase, however. According to the data, 227,200 people in the Valley were employed last July, compared with 224,500 this July.

The number of people in the labor force dropped from 246,000 to 239,000, according to the data.

In Mahoning County, July’s unemployment rate was 6.2 percent, compared with 7.9 percent in July 2017. In Youngstown, the rate dropped from 9.8 percent in July 2017 to 8.2 percent last month.

In Trumbull County, the July unemployment rate dropped from 8.5 percent last July to 6.6 percent last month.

In Columbiana County, the rate dropped from 6.2 percent in July 2017 to 5.4 percent in July 2018.

In Ohio, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased slightly from 4.5 percent in June to 4.6 percent in July, the Associated Press reported.

The national rate was 3.9 percent in July, down from 4 percent in June and from 4.3 percent in July 2017.