COLUMBUS – Ohio’s unemployment rate in October was 4.9 percent, the fourth straight month that the rate has been below 5.0 percent, according to data released by the state Friday morning.
The rate was up from 4.8 percent in September and at its highest level since June as employers shed 2,800 jobs, according to a latest business survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The number of unemployed workers was 280,000, up 5,000 from September, even though participation in the labor force dropped to its lowest level since January, probably reflecting the numbers of students who returned to school and the end of seasonal employment.
The number of unemployed Ohio has increased by 15,000 in the past year (see graph) and the jobless rate has increased 0.2 percentage from the October 2015 rate, a near post-recession low of 4.7 percent.
The U.S. unemployment rate for October was 4.9 percent.
The 6,400 jobs gained in manufacturing, construction, and mining and logging were offset by 9,200 jobs lost in the service and government sectors.
Over the previous year, employment goods-producing businesses remain virtually flat, despite gains in construction and non-durable goods manufacturing, while the service and government sectors added over 50,000 jobs, led by educational and health services, leisure and hospitality, and finance.