COLUMBUS – The unemployment rate in central Ohio slipped to 4.3 percent in August as thousands of workers left the labor force, the first decline of the year.
That represented a 0.1 percent decline from June and July.
The region’s labor force declined from 1.084 million in July to 1.075 million in August while the number of residents who reported they were employed fell by 7,500 to 1.029 million as the school year began in Ohio, according to data released Tuesday by the Department of Job and Family Services.
The workforce was larger, and more people reported they were working, than in April when the regional jobless rate hit a post-recession low of 3.4 percent.
The Columbus metro area had the lowest jobless rate of any of Ohio’s largest metropolitan areas. Cleveland’s 6.8 percent was the highest.
The unemployment rate in August 2016 was 4.1 percent.
The statewide unemployment rate in August was 5.4 percent, a three-year high.
Delaware County, at 3.8 percent, and Union county, at 3.9 percent were among the counties with the lowest unemployment rates. Mercer County had the lowest of all 88 counties at 3.2 percent. Meigs County, at 8.5 percent was the highest.
The state defines the Columbus metropolitan area as Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Perry, Pickaway, and Union counties.