Ohio unemployment rate drops

Ohio took a cue from the national economy when it came to job creation in February.

The state lost 8,200 jobs during the month, according to an Ohio Department of Job and Family Services report released Friday, two weeks after the federal government released data showing the U.S. economy added just 20,000 jobs during February.

“Overall, February was a slow month,” said Mekael Teshome, a vice president for the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank. “That we saw a decline in job numbers is not surprising given that the U.S. numbers also were unusually weak.”

Ohio’s job losses last month were spread over sectors of the economy.

Construction lost 3,800 jobs, the most of any sector. There was a loss of 1,900 jobs in the trade, transportation and utilities sector and the leisure and hospitality sector cut 1,500 jobs.

The loss of jobs in February comes after a strong gain of 19,100 jobs in January.

The cold, snowy February could get some of the blame for the job losses in Ohio and the slowdown in the U.S. numbers, but Teshome said the Ohio numbers also could be a reflection of what has become a tight labor market and employer complaints about the difficulty in finding applicants.

“We’re bumping up against supply constraints,” he said.

The state has created just 36,100 jobs over the past year, and Teshome said he expects job gains to moderate this year.

The monthly report doesn’t taken into account the shutdown of the Lordstown General Motors plant; that will be reflected in the March numbers.

“It is certainly feasible we’ll get a weaker report given the shutdown, but other industries across the state are doing fairly well,” he said.

Despite the weak jobs numbers, the Ohio jobless rate actually dropped last month, a reflection of how the monthly report is done.

Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in February down from 4.7 percent in January and in line with where it has been for the past year. By comparison, the U.S. rate was 3.8 percent last month.

The number of unemployed workers fell by 4,000 to 265,000.

The monthly unemployment report is made up of two surveys: one of households that is used to calculate the unemployment rate and one of employers that determines how many jobs were added or lost during the month. The surveys don’t always move in the same direction as was the case in February.

In this case, the report showed 14,000 people entering the labor force and finding work and 18,000 people finding jobs, and that’s what led to the lower unemployment rate.