Central Ohio has low jobless rates
Three Columbus region counties – Delaware, Madison and Union – were among 10 counties in Ohio with unemployment rates at or below 4% in August, according to state employment data released Tuesday.
Union had the lowest rate in the region at 3.7% followed by 3.8% in Delaware and 3.9% in Madison County.
Columbus had the second lowest unemployment rate among the state’s metro areas in August with a rate of 4.7% in August, down from 5.4% in July. Cincinnati had the lowest rate at 4.4%.
The unemployment rate for the city of Columbus was 5.2%. The unemployment rate for the city has been running higher than for the metro area since the pandemic started.
The rate for Franklin County was 4.9% in August.
Despite the lower unemployment rate in August, the region lost 6,900 jobs during the month.
The sector that covers private education and health care lost 4,000 jobs in August and the trade, transportation and utilities sector gave up 1,500 jobs. The finance sector cut 1,000 jobs.
The unemployment report is made up of two surveys, one of households and one of employers, and at times they show results that seem to be inconsistent.
The household survey showed the number of people in the region with a job grew by 23,100 during the month, and that’s what pushed down the unemployment rate last month.
The unemployment rates for other counties in the region showed Licking County’s rate was 4.3%, followed by 4.4% for Fairfield County and 4.5% in Pickaway County.
The rate was 4.7% for Hocking and Morrow counties.
Perry County had the highest rate in the region at 5.4%.
Holmes County in northeast Ohio had the lowest unemployment rate among Ohio’s 88 counties at 3.2%, while Jefferson County in eastern Ohio and Meigs County in the southeast part of the state had the highest rate at 7.1%.
In all, rates fell in 86 counties of Ohio’s 88 counties and increased in two counties. mawilliams@dispatch.com @Bizmarkwilliams