COLUMBUS – Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in January, unchanged from December, as employers shed 6,300 jobs.
According to monthly data released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Friday morning, the number of working Ohioans dropped from 5.591 million in December to 5.585 million in January and 12,500 jobs have been lost since January of last year, suggesting a continued weakening of the Ohio labor market.
Manufacturers cut 6,000 jobs in the past year, while cutbacks by state and local governments cost 12,200 public sector jobs.
Revised data shows 2019 remained Ohio’s worst year for job growth since the end of the recession, said Michael Shields, researcher for Policy Matters Ohio.
“Today’s state jobs report is a disappointment even in light of low initial estimates of 2019 growth. These new data suggest the Ohio economy is continuing to slow. Manufacturing jobs fell, and what growth we saw was in service industries including many lower-paying jobs, ” he said.
The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in January was up 1,000. The number of unemployed has decreased by 10,000 in the past 12 months and the unemployment rate has declined from 4.3 percent in January 2019.
Jobs were lost in the manufacturing and professional business services areas but the service sector as a whole added 3,200 jobs. Government employment decreased 8,600.
The February statistics do not reflect the full impact of any global business slowdowns that may have occurred as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
Ohio manufacturers lost 6,000 jobs over the past year while the construction industry added 1,600 jobs.
Employment in the service sector increased 4,900, powered by the addition of more than 10,000 jobs in educational and health services.
Government sector employment decreased 12,200 due to losses in state and local governments.
The Labor Department says the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% last month, matching a 50-year low as hiring jumped in February. Employers added 273,000 positions, evidence that the job market was in strong shape before the coronavirus began to sweep through the nation.