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Unemployment Rates Drop in Mahoning Valley
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Youngstown experienced a full percentage point decrease in its unemployment rate last month, dropping to 9.1% in December from 10.1% the month before, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported this morning. The December rate was up slightly from a year earlier, 8.9% in December 2012.
Warren’s unemployment rate also improved, to 8.3% in December from 8.8% the month before and from 9.8% in December 2012.
The combined unemployment rate for Mahoning and Trumbull counties in December was 7.5% in December, down just slightly from 7.6% a year earlier but down more than half a percentage point from 8.1% in November.
The two counties make up the Ohio portion of the Youngstown-Warren metropolitan statistical area, which covers Mercer County in Pennsylvania as well. The unemployment rate for the entire metro area declined by slightly more over the month, to 7.3% in December from 8.0% in November, and also was down from 7.6% in November 2012.
In Mahoning County, the December unemployment rate was 7.6%, down from 8.2% in November but up from 7.3% in December 2012. In Trumbull County, the unemployment rate last month was down half a percentage point from both December 2012’s and November 2013’s rate of 8.0%. Columbiana County reported a December unemployment rate of 7.1%, down from 8.0% the month before and from 7.5% in December 2012.
For the year, Warren’s unemployment rate dropped by nearly half a percentage point, while Youngstown’s rate increased by about the same. For 2013, Warren’s unemployment rate averaged 8.8%, down from 9.2% for 2012. In Youngstown, the average unemployment rate last year was 10.1%, up from 9.7% the prior year.
Mahoning County’s average annual unemployment rate rose to 8.2% from 7.8% in 2012, while Columbiana County’s average rose just a 10th of a point, to 8.1% in 2013 from 8.0% in 2012. Trumbull County’s rate was stable, averaging 8.1% in both 2012 and 2013.
The unemployment rate for the Youngstown-Warren MSA averaged 8.2% in 2013, up a 10th of a point from 8.1% in 2012. In the Ohio-only portion of the MSA, the average unemployment rate was 8.1%, up from 8.0% in 2012.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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