Ohio’s jobless rate at 4.8% in Nov., near pandemic low

A surge in hiring in the badly damaged leisure and hospitality sector helped push Ohio’s unemployment rate down last month and the total number of jobs in the state to a new high since the pandemic started nearly two years ago.

Ohio’s unemployment rate hit 4.8% last month, down from 5.1% in October, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported Friday. The only time the rate has been lower since the coronavirus pandemic began was when it was 4.7% in March and April.

The rate also was 4.7% in February 2020, right before the pandemic struck and shut down much of the state and national economies.

Ohio employers added 12,200 jobs last month, led by a gain of 8,000 jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector that includes restaurants and hotels.

That sector now has 518,400 workers, the most since the pandemic began but about 60,000 below where it was February 2020, state jobs data show.

The construction sector added 2,800 jobs last month, and the professional and business services sectors added 2,200 jobs. The trade, transportation and utilities sector that includes stores and warehouses added 1,400 jobs, and the government sector added 900 jobs.

The sector that covers private education and health services lost 3,200 jobs during the month, and the financial sector gave up 1,100 jobs.

Overall, the number of unemployed people fell by 14,000 to 275,000 workers last month.

With last month’s job gains, Ohio now has nearly 5.4 million jobs, the most since the pandemic began.

Despite the lower unemployment rate and the job gains, Ohio’s employment picture is far from recovered.

Employers continue to complain that they can’t find the workers they need to meet strong demand, and workers remain concerned about COVID-19 and struggle with issues such as a lack of affordable and available child care, which they say keeps them from going back to work.

Ohio needs about 220,000 jobs and workers to get back to where it was before the pandemic began. mawilliams@dispatch.com @Bizmarkwilliams