COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio’s unemployment rate is on the rise, though it may be at least partly because of growing optimism among workers.
The jobless rate jumped to 7.2 percent in June, behind the loss of 12,500 jobs statewide, according to data released Friday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The unemployment rate is the highest for the state in nearly a year.
But, analysts point to a steady increase in the labor force as evidence that workers are becoming more hopeful and are looking for jobs.
“We hope all those people will find work. There’s no guarantee they will find a job their first day or even the first month,” department spokesman Benjamin Johnson said.
The survey which shows the number of working Ohioans has varied widely from month to month, growing in March and declining in May and June, Johnson said.
“We’re used to having good-bad months that vary by hundreds or thousands; now, we’re seeing it vary by sometimes tens of thousands,” he said.
Since December, 20,000 people have joined the work force, Johnson said, which he compared to a growth in consumer confidence, a qualitative sign of a recovering economy.
The number of unemployed workers rose by 8,000, which is not unusual in June when high school and college graduates join the labor force.
Big losses were seen in manufacturing, construction, and the service sector, especially in educational and health services.
There are 5,000 fewer unemployed workers than one year ago and the unemployment rate for Ohio was down from 7.3 percent in June 2012.
The U.S. unemployment rate for June was 7.6 percent