COLUMBUS – Unemployment rose to a two-year high in central Ohio last month, according to data released by the state Tuesday.
The jobless rate of 4.8 per cent was the highest since January 2015 and represented a 0.9 percent jump from December.
Ohio’s jobless rate of 5.0 percent in January indicated sluggish employment growth.
The unemployment rate typically increases in January as holiday seasonal workers leave their jobs and college students return to school.
According to data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the 998,200 people who reported that they were working in the 10-county area around Columbus was the smallest number since March 2016 and the 50,300 people looking for employment was also the highest in two years while about 7,000 people dropped out of the regional workforce.
The central Ohio region is defined by the state as Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Perry, Pickaway, and Union counties.