COLUMBUS – Ohio employers added jobs for the fifth consecutive month in March and the state’s unemployment dropped to the lowest level since before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
Ohio’s unemployment rate in March was 4.1%, the lowest since February 2020 and a 0.1% decline from a month earlier as the economy continued its slow-and-steady recovery from the pandemic-induced slowdown.
Employers added 18,300 jobs, bringing the number of Ohioans who reported they were working to 5.467 million, which is still approximately 150,000 lower than the number of employed residents in February 2020.
Employers added 3,500 jobs in manufacturing and construction 11,600 jobs in the service sector.
First-time claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 22% during the week that ended on April 9.
The U.S. unemployment rate for March 2022 was 3.6%,