COLUMBUS – Ohio’s unemployment rate in August was unchanged from July as the beginning of the school year signaled an exodus of 13,000 people from the state’s workforce.
The jobless rate remained at 4.6 percent as employers added 13,900 jobs, from a revised 5.611 million in July to 5.625 million, the highest number since January 2008, in the early weeks of the recession.
The number of unemployed Ohioans increased by 3,000 to 268,000, according to data released Friday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The number of unemployed has decreased by 23,000 in the past 12 months as the unemployment rate declined from 5.0 percent in August 2017.
The agency reports job gains in educational and health services; leisure and hospitality; other services; trade, transportation and utilities; and information exceeded losses in professional and business services and financial activities.
Government employment increased by 4,500 jobs.
The gains compensated for losses in the manufacturing sector.
The U.S. unemployment rate for August was 3.9 percent.