COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio’s unemployment rate was 7.3 percent in August, matching the national rate, and up from 7.2 percent in July.
The state rate has varied only slightly throughout this year and had been hovering below the U.S. rate. The national rate dropped to 7.3 percent in August, the lowest since 2008, because more people stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.
According to data released this morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, a survey of businesses by the federal Labor Department showed employment decreased 8,200, thanks to large losses in leisure and hospitality, health services, manufacturing and construction.