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

Ohio's unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in February, down from 5.5 percent in January, according to data released this morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Ohio's nonfarm wage and salary employment decreased 11,600 over the month, from 5,432,200 in January, to 5,420,600 in February.

"Ohio's labor market indicators showed mixed results in February," ODJFS Director Helen Jones-Kelley said. "News that the unemployment rate declined slightly must be tempered by the fact that total employment decreased in both goods-producing and service-providing industries."

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in February was 316,000, down from 329,000 in January. The number of unemployed has decreased by 10,000 in the past 12 months from 326,000. The February unemployment rate for Ohio was down from 5.5 percent in February 2007.

The U.S. unemployment rate for February was 4.8 percent, down from 4.9 percent in January.

Total Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)
Ohio's nonfarm wage and salary employment dropped 11,600 over the month, from 5,432,200 in January to 5,420,600 in February, according to the latest business establishment survey conducted by ODJFS.

Service-providing industries declined 9,700 over the month to 4,418,100. Losses in retail trade (-2,100) helped lower trade, transportation, and utilities 3,400. Educational and health services dropped 2,500, while leisure and hospitality fell 1,900. Employment was also down in other services ( 1,000), government (-400), financial activities (-300), information (-100), and professional and business services (-100). Goods-producing industries, at 1,002,500, lost 1,900 jobs. Inclement weather lowered construction employment 2,300. A gain of 600 in durable goods was partially offset by a loss of 200 in nondurable goods, boosting manufacturing 400. Natural resources and mining was little changed.

Over the past 12 months, nonagricultural wage and salary employment fell 2,500. Goods-producing industries dropped 13,600. Employment was down in manufacturing ( 14,300) due to a loss of 11,500 jobs in durable goods. The workforce rose in natural resources and mining (+500) and construction (+200). A gain of 14,500 in educational and health services helped raise service-providing industries 11,100. Also up were trade, transportation, and utilities (+3,600) and professional and business services (+3,500). Leisure and hospitality dropped 4,300. Declines were also noted in financial activities (-3,000), other services (-2,200), information (-800), 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). 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 February 2008 will be posted online at http://lmi.state.oh.us/laus/current.htm on Tuesday, March 25, 2008. March 2008 unemployment rates and nonagricultural wage and salary data for Ohio will be released by ODJFS on Friday, April 18, 2008. This information and the monthly statistical summaries it is based on are also available at http://jfs.ohio.gov/releases.

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