COLUMBUS, Ohio – Unemployment in central Ohio ticked upward in May for the first time in three months, according to data released by the state Tuesday.
Then May unemployment rate in the eight-county region around Columbus was 4.4 percent, up from April’s 4.3 percent, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
While experts attribute a drop in the state’s jobless rate partly to a decline in the work force, others blame an influx of students into the summer job market with the hike in the regional rate.
The jobless rate in the region was 6.0 in January and in May 2013.
Central Ohio’s unemployment rate is still the lowest in seven years, below the state (5.5) or national (6.3) levels.
Columbus boasts the lowest unemployment rate of any of Ohio’s largest cities at 4.4 percent. Cleveland’s is the highest at 9.0 percent.
At 3.7 percent, Delaware County has the state’s third lowest jobless rate, behind Auglaize and Holmes counties. Monroe County suffers with the highest at 10.8 percent.