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

Ohio's unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in March, up from the revised rate of 9.5 percent in February, according to data released this morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Ohio's nonfarm wage and salary employment decreased 37,500 over the month, from 5,194,700 in February, to 5,157,200 in March.

"Ohio's labor market experienced additional job losses in March," ODJFS Director Douglas Lumpkin said. "The unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent as employment continued to decline in both the service-producing and goods-producing sectors."

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in March was 578,000, up from 567,000 in February. The number of unemployed has increased by 211,000 in the past 12 months from 367,000. The March unemployment rate for Ohio was up from 6.1 percent in March 2008.

The U.S. unemployment rate for March was 8.5 percent, up from 8.1 percent in February.

Total Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)

Ohio's nonagricultural wage and salary employment, at 5,157,200 in March, was down 37,500 from February according to the latest business establishment survey conducted by ODJFS.

Service-providing industries fell 27,500 to 4,305,100. Most of the decline occurred in professional and business services (-15,100). Also down were trade, transportation, and utilities (-4,200), other services (-2,100), educational and health services (-1,600), government (-1,500), information ( 1,000), financial activities (-1,000), and leisure and hospitality (-1,000). Goods-producing industries, at 852,100, were down 10,000. Losses in durable goods (-7,200) and nondurable goods ( 1,600) lowered manufacturing 8,800. Construction employment dropped 1,300. Mining and logging increased 100.

Over the past 12 months, nonagricultural wage and salary employment fell 229,600. The goods-producing sector was down 124,000. The largest decrease was in manufacturing (-98,600), with most of the loss occurring in durable goods (-72,600). The construction sector lost 25,500 jobs. Mining and logging advanced 100. Service-providing industries declined 105,600 over the year. Professional and business services dropped 54,600, while trade, transportation, and utilities lost 39,800 jobs. Smaller decreases were observed in financial activities (-10,700), government (-8,000), information (-5,500), and other services (-3,600). Employment rose in educational and health services (+11,300) and leisure and hospitality (+5,300).

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 2009 release dates is available online at http://lmi.state.oh.us/laus/releases.htm County, city and metropolitan area unemployment rates for March 2009 will be posted online at http://lmi.state.oh.us/laus/current.htm on Tuesday, April 21, 2009. April 2009 unemployment rates and nonagricultural wage and salary data for Ohio will be released by ODJFS on Friday, May 22, 2009. 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.