COLUMBUS – Ohio’s slow recovery from a near-total economic shutdown eight months ago is reflected in the unemployment figures for October.
The unemployment rate was 5.6%, down from a revised 8.3% in September and 12% lower than the peak of 17.6% reported in April as businesses, bars, restaurants and schools closed to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus, according to data released Friday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The October unemployment rate was 4.1% last year and 5.5% in March, before the pandemic’s full economic impact was felt.
Employers added 30,800 jobs and 5.2 million Ohioans were working last month, compared with only 4.7 million in April. The number of unemployed workers dropped by 145,000 from September’s 469,000
Service-sector employment increased by 23,700 and other gains were seen in manufacturing and construction. Government employment declined as losses in the federal government surpassed gains in local and state government.
Ohioans filed 24,964 initial jobless claims last week, 249,251 fewer than the 274,215 weekly claims filed at the peak earlier this year. The 1.9 million initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last 35 weeks was more than the combined total of those filed during the last four years.
The U.S. unemployment rate for October was 6.9%, up from 3.6% one year ago, when the nation’s robust economy had yet to feel any effects from the coronavirus.