COLUMBUS – Unemployment in central Ohio fell for the second month in a row, to 3.9 percent in August, according to data released Tuesday by the state.
The jobless rate in the 10-county Columbus metropolitan area is slightly higher than one year ago, when it was 3.8 percent, but the number of people in the area who reported they were working increased by over 16,000 to 1.02 million, according to the monthly report from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Columbus remained the metro area with the state’s lowest unemployment rate. Cleveland, at 5.3 percent, was the highest.
Delaware County boasted the area’s lowest rate, at 3.4 percent, while Perry County’s 5.5 percent was the highest.
Jobless rates in Ohio’s 88 counties ranged from a low of 3.0 percent in Mercer County to a high of 9.0 percent in Monroe County.
Unemployment rates decreased in 72 counties from July to August.
The statewide unemployment rate for Ohio was 4.7 percent in August (see graph).