COLUMBUS – Ohio’s unemployment rate declined for the third consecutive month in September to 4.5 percent, its lowest level since 2001.
The jobless rate was down from a revised 4.6 percent in August as the number of unemployed workers fell by 11,000 but the number of Ohioans who were employed also dropped, by 8,600 over the month, according to data released Friday morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Many of the workers no longer listed as looking for work could be students who returned to school.
Ohio employers have added over 49,000 jobs in the last year, powered by gains in manufacturing and the service sector, which offset big losses in construction. The number of unemployed has decreased by 51,000 in the past 12 months.
The unemployment rate a year ago was 5.3 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate for September was 5.1 percent, unchanged from August.
The manufacturing, trade, transportation, and utilities sectors shed over 7,000 jobs last month and another 14,000 government jobs were lost while the service sector added 10,200, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, educational and health services and financial activities.