COLUMBUS – Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in October, a 14-year low, down from 4.5 percent in September.
Employers added 30,800 jobs while the number of unemployed workers fell by, according to data released Friday morning by the Ohio Department of job and Family Services.
The state says number of unemployed workers has declined by 51,000 in the past year and the jobless rate has fallen from 5.2 percent in October 2014.
On the presidential campaign trail, Gov. John Kasich hailed the addition of 380,000 jobs under his administration as a sign that “efforts to make Ohio more attractive to job creators are paying off.”
“While our economy is stronger today and more diversified, we still have more work to do to reach our full potential, and we must continue to find new ways to make even more progress,” he said.
While the total number of workung Ohioans has finally exceeded the number when the recession officially began in December 2007, critics say the recovery has been slow compared to other states, 0.1 percent, compared to a national average of 3.1 percent, according to one policy group.
“Today’s jobs report is good news for the state, but this preliminary count comes more than six years into the official recovery period. Most other states and the nation crossed this threshold more than a year ago,” said Hannah Halbert, workforce researcher with Policy Matters Ohio.
The U.S. unemployment rate for October was 5.0 percent, down from 5.1 percent in September and down from 5.7 percent in October 2014.
The service sector of the state’s economy added 24,800 jobs led by gains in educational and health services, leisure and hospitality, while job gains in construction and manufacturing outweighed losses in mining, logging and government.
Employment grew by 77,400 over the past year, most of the gains coming in the service sector.