COLUMBUS – Ohio’s unemployment rate declined to 4.0 percent in June from 4.1 percent in May and is 0.6 percent lower than a year ago but still higher than the national average.
This was the fifth straight month of declines in the state’s jobless rate, according to data released Friday morning.
Ohio employers added 1,500 jobs in May to 5.59 million. Most of the gains came in construction and government.
The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in June was 233,000, down 6,000 from 239,000 in May. The number of unemployed has decreased by 31,000 in the past 12 months from 264,000.
The U.S. unemployment rate for June was 3.7 percent.