Unemployment rate falls in February

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning Valley’s nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.2 percent in February from February 2018’s rate of 6.3 percent, according to figures released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

While the number of unemployed people in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties fell from 15,000 in February 2018 to 14,800 in February 2019, the number of employed people fell from 223,200 to 223,100, and the civilian labor force stayed the same at 238,000.

In Mahoning County, the February unemployment rate fell from 6.3 percent to 6.2 percent. In Trumbull County, it increased from 6.5 percent to 6.6 percent. In Columbiana County, the February unemployment rate was 5.5 percent, down from 5.9 percent in February 2018.

In the city of Youngstown, the unemployment rate was 7.4 percent in February, an increase from 7.2 percent the previous February.

Ohio’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in February, up from 4.5 percent in February 2018.

Nationally, the unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in February, down from 4.1 percent in February 2018.