COLUMBUS – Ohio’s unemployment rate fell by 3% in June to 10.9% from a revised 13.9% in May, reflecting the state’s gradual recovery from the COVID-19 shutdown.
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Employers added 208,000 jobs over the month as more businesses call laid-off workers back to their jobs. There were 5.03 million Ohioans who were working in June, compared with 4.83 million in May, according to data released Friday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The number of unemployed Ohio fell by 166,000 in June to 631,000, but the ranks of the unemployed have swelled by 392,000 in the past year and the unemployment rate increased from 4.1% in June 2019 as the economy ground to a halt in March and April due to mandatory business closings and restrictions on large gatherings as state officials sought to control the spread of the disease that has sickened over 70,000 people.
Gains were made in manufacturing, which recovered nearly 29,000 jobs and in the hard-hit service sector, with 3.4 million workers, an increase of 165,700 over May.
The U.S. unemployment rate for June was 11.1%, down from 13.3% in May, but up from 3.7% in June 2019.