COLUMBUS – Ohio’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.4 percent in March, its lowest level in nearly 18 years.
The jobless rate declined from 4.6 percent in February as the state’s labor force swelled to 7.79 million Ohioans, the largest number since February 2011, according to data released Friday from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The last time Ohio’s unemployment rate was below 4.5 percent was August 2001.
The state’s labor force reached 5.8 million, its largest number since December 2010.
Many of the 14,000 Ohioans who joined the labor pool found work as employers added 6,300 jobs, raising the employment figure to 5.6 million, while the number of Ohioans looking for work declined by 7,000. The unemployment figure has decreased from 4.5 percent last March.
The service sector accounted for nearly all of the job growth last month, adding 5,900 jobs while the other sectors added only 400. The growth was powered by gains in educational and health services and leisure and hospitality.
Losses in manufacturing were offset by gains in construction, mining and logging.
The U.S. unemployment rate for March was 3.8 percent.