COLUMBUS – Ohio’s unemployment rate dropped for the second straight month, but remains higher than last year due to increased participation in the labor force.
The June unemployment rate was 5.0 percent, down from 5.1 percent in May, according to data released Friday morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Employers added 12,400 jobs during the month while the number of unemployed workers fell by 9,000.
In the past 12 months, 17,000 jobs have been added in the state while 114,000 people have joined the work force, either employed or seeking employment.
Uncharacteristically, the service sector lost suffered a net loss of 1,200 jobs as many educational service employers shed workers with the onset of summer, while manufacturing and construction compensated for the losses by adding 4,300 jobs. The biggest gains came in the local and state government sectors.
The June unemployment rate for Ohio was 0.2 percentage points higher than the June 2015 rate of 4.8 percent.
The U.S. unemployment rate for June was 4.9 percent.