COLUMBUS – Ohio’s unemployment rate inched downward in August, to 8.9% from a revised 9.0% in July as business shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to weigh down the state’s economy.
Employers added 45,500 jobs over the month but the number of unemployed workers remained unchanged from July at 510,000, according to data released Friday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The number of unemployed workers has increased by 269,000 in the past 12 months, mostly as a result of the shutdown if the state’s economy in the spring and early summer.
The U.S. unemployment rate for August was 8.4%, down from 10.2% in July.
Gains were seen in the manufacturing, service and federal and local government sectors, but jobs were lost in construction and in state government amid hiring freezes and budget cuts. The state has seen 448,700 jobs lost in the past year.