Ohio and U.S. Employment Situation (Seasonally Adjusted)

Ohio's unemployment rate was 5.5 percent in January, down from the revised 5.8 percent in December, according to data released this morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Ohio's nonfarm wage and salary employment increased 18,700 over the month, from 5,418,900 in December, to 5,437,600 in January.

"Ohio's labor market showed improvement in January," ODJFS Director Helen Jones-Kelley said. "Total employment increased slightly in goods-producing industries and more noticeably in the service-providing industries."

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in January was 328,000, down from 347,000 in December. The number of unemployed has increased by 6,000 in the past 12 months from 322,000. The January unemployment rate for Ohio was up from 5.4 percent in January 2007.

The U.S. unemployment rate for January was 4.9 percent, down from 5.0 percent in December.

Total Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)
Ohio's nonagricultural wage and salary employment rose 18,700 over the month, from 5,418,900 in December to 5,437,600 in January, according to the latest business establishment survey conducted by ODJFS.

Service providers advanced 17,900 to 4,433,000 in January. Growth in education helped boost educational and health services 7,300. Scattered gains caused trade, transportation, and utilities to increase 4,600. Other sectors with greater employment were leisure and hospitality (+2,700), professional and business services (+1,300), financial activities (+800), government (+800), and other services (+500). Information slipped 100 over the month. Goods-producing industries rose 800 to 1,004,600. Employment was up in construction (+1,700) and natural resources and mining (+300). Losses in nondurable goods reduced manufacturing employment 1,200 from December.

Over the past 12 months, nonfarm wage and salary employment fell 3,800. The decrease was concentrated in the goods-producing sector ( 18,900). A decline of 12,200 in durable goods helped lower manufacturing 14,900. Construction was down 4,200, while natural resources and mining increased 200. Service-providing industries advanced 15,100. Growth in health care and social assistance (+11,900) boosted educational and health services 17,600. Trade, transportation, and utilities rose 5,100, while professional and business services added 3,600 jobs. Sectors with lower employment over the year were leisure and hospitality (-5,400), financial activities (-3,300), other services (-1,600), information (-700), and government (-200).

EDITOR'S NOTE: All data cited are produced in cooperation with the U. S. Department of Labor. Data sources include Current Population Survey (U.S. data); Current Employment Statistics Program (nonagricultural wage and salary employment data); and Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program (Ohio unemployment rates). This release incorporates data that have been updated to reflect revisions made as a result of the annual DOL benchmarking process. The annual revisions include changes to employment and unemployment estimates as well as revisions to monthly seasonal adjustment factors. More complete listings of the data appear in the monthly Ohio Labor Market Review. Unemployment rates for all Ohio counties as well as cities with populations of 50,000 or more are presented in the monthly ODJFS Civilian Labor Force Estimates publication. Updated statewide historical data may be obtained by contacting the Bureau of Labor Market Information at (614) 466-1109.

News release dates

A calendar of 2008 release dates is available online at http://lmi.state.oh.us/laus/releases.htm County, city and metropolitan area unemployment rates for January 2008 will be posted online at http://lmi.state.oh.us/laus/current.htm on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 (later than normal due to the annual revision process). February 2008 unemployment rates and nonagricultural wage and salary data for Ohio will be released by ODJFS on Friday, March 21, 2008. This information and the monthly statistical summaries it is based on are also available at http://jfs.ohio.gov/releases.

Choose this link to view the table on the Ohio and U.S. Employment Situation.

Choose this link to view the table for the Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment Estimates for Ohio.