Ohio Unemployment Rate Holds at 5.7% in August
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio’s unemployment rate was 5.7% in August, unchanged from the July rate, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported this morning. Last month’s rate was down from 7.5% a year earlier.
The number of workers unemployed in Ohio last month was 234,000, up 1,000 from the month before. The number of unemployed has decreased by 109,000 over the past year, from 433,000.
Employment in goods-producing industries, at 873,000, decreased 2,400 from July as a 3,500-job loss in construction surpassed a 1,100-job gain in manufacturing. Employment in the private services-providing sector decreased 5,600, with losses in trade, transportation and utilities; other services; financial activities; information; and leisure and hospitality. Gains occurred in educational and health services and professional and business services.
In response to the new jobs numbers, Connie Wehrkam, spokeswoman for Gov. John Kasich’s re-election campaign, said the Republican governor had gotten the state’s economy back on track and Ohioans back to work, but more remains to be done. “Embracing the pro-growth policies that job creators need, like running budget surpluses and cutting taxes for all Ohioans, is working and exactly what Governor Kasich plans to do for another four years," she said.
The gubernatorial campaign of Democratic nominee Ed FitzGerald, charged that the jobs report is “just another example” of how Kasich is failing Ohio families, and the state risks losing its middle class if it continues in its current direction.
“Our economy is not just stalling out,” the statement, issued by press secretary Lauren Hitt, continued. “Kasich’s outdated and ignorant approach is causing our state to hemorrhage jobs in industries that pay good, middle class wages.” The press statement in particular cited losses in construction and the trades, transportation and utilities industries.
Also looking to deny Kasich a second term, the Ohio Democratic Party pointed out that Ohio’s labor force shrank for the sixth consecutive month in August, and the number of employed Ohioans shrank for a fourth consecutive month.
“When John Kasich came into office, Ohio was already nearly a year into a strong economic recovery that was lowering the unemployment rate by creating jobs,” Chris Redfern, state Democratic Party chairman, said in a prepared statement. “With Kasich behind the wheel, Ohio is stuck in neutral while the governor entertains delusional fantasizes of being president. Kasich’s policies have failed to create the jobs Ohioans need, all while shifting the tax burden onto middle class families.”
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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