Ohio job growth finally moves above U.S. average

Ohio employers are hiring, with the state’s pace of job growth finally matching and even exceeding the national pace.

Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in July 2018, up from 4.5 percent in June, the state reported Friday.

But the state’s non-agricultural wage and salary employment increased 7,600 over the month, from a revised 5,608,500 in June to 5,616,100 in July 2018.

“The data are dramatically different than the data for prior months, with the speed of job growth in Ohio finally moving above the U.S. national average in both June and July 2017,” Cleveland economist George Zeller said. “Ohio ended its lengthy sub-par job growth streak at 66 consecutive months below the U.S. national average when the figure went positive in both June and July 2018.”

Upward revisions added 132,600 jobs to the state’s job growth in June, Zeller said.

With revisions, Ohio’s yearover-year job growth rate is 2.13 percent, while the national rate is 1.65 percent, Zeller said.

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in July was 265,000, up 6,000 from 259,000 in June. The number of unemployed people has decreased by 28,000 in the past 12 months from 293,000. The July unemployment rate for Ohio decreased from 5.1 percent in July 2017.

The U.S. unemployment rate for July was 3.9 percent, down from 4 percent in June, and down from 4.3 percent in July 2017.

Manufacturing was again one of the fastest-growing sectors, adding 4,700 jobs, the state said. Employment in goods-producing industries, at 942,300, increased 6,800 over the month as gains were also seen in construction (with 2,200 added jobs), surpassing the loss of 100 jobs in mining and logging.

The private service-providing sector, at 3,888,000, added 2,000 jobs, the state said.

From July 2017 to July 2018, non-agricultural wage and salary employment grew 82,200. Manufacturing added 16,700 jobs for the year, with 13,200 jobs added in durable goods and more than 3,500 jobs added in non-durable goods work.

Construction added 7,100 jobs and mining and logging added 1,000 jobs for the year, the state said.

TY GREENLEES / STAFF Workers at Fuyao Glass America finish an automobile windshield in the Moraine plant. Fuyao currently employs 2,300 workers and expects to need 700 more within three years.