COLUMBUS – The unemployment rate in central Ohio ticked upward in September to 3.7 percent from 3.6 percent in August.
According to data released Tuesday morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, more than 991,000 people in the 10-county Columbus metropolitan area were employed, down from just over 1 million the month before. The number of people who said they were employed in the area has dropped by 15,000 since July as students returned to school. The number of people looking for jobs also fell, by about 6,000.
Columbus continues to boast the lowest jobless rate of any of Ohio’s major cities. Cleveland, at 6.3 percent, has the highest.
None of the counties in the region experienced a jobless rate higher than Perry County’s 5 percent. At 3.1 percent, Delaware County had the lowest rate in the area.
The central Ohio region is defined as Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Perry, Pickaway, and Union counties.