The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services released the October 2015 data on employment and unemployment on Friday and the overall job figures for the state in October were favorable, with a robust gain of 30,800 jobs.
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The decline continues a recent trend.
Job gains were reported in construction (+5,800), and manufacturing (+5,800) as well as additions in educational and health services (+24,800), leisure and hospitality (+7,000), professional and business services (+3,500), trade, transportation, utilities (+2,900), and financial activities (+2,400).
OH was one of 32 states where the October unemployment rate dropped, but perhaps equally significant was the large increase in added jobs. The October unemployment rate for OH was down from 5.2 percent in October 2014. Job gains in construction (+5,800) and manufacturing (+5,800) outweighed job losses in mining and logging (-100).
The state’s unemployment rate is about the same as it was last October, when it was 3.3 percent.
The U.S.jobs report generally offers more detail than monthly unemployment data released at the state level. Ohio’s unadjusted unemployment rate for October was 4.2 percent, while the unadjusted USA rate was 4.8 percent. West Virginia had the highest rate, 6.9 percent. Federal Government employment was unchanged in October 2015 in OH, but since a year ago, Federal Government employment in OH is down by 1,200. That’s a historically low level that may help push up pay in the coming months. Steady spending by consumers has offset slower growth overseas and encouraged businesses to add more workers. The biggest job gains occurred in California, which added 41,200, followed by Florida, with 35,200, and then Ohio.
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According to Zeller, the annual rate of job growth in OH was 1.43 percent after last month, compared to 1.94 percent for the United States. Goods-producing industries added 12,300 jobs. That contributes to lower jobless rates because people not in the labor force are not counted among the unemployed.
