The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services has completed a series of long term job growth projections through 2014 for eight Ohio metropolitan areas. The reports, produced by the ODJFS Bureau of Labor Market Information, provide regional projections for the following metropolitan areas: Akron, Canton-Massillon, Cincinnati-Middletown, Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown-Warren-Boardman. The reports forecast growth by industry and occupation to help Ohio employers, educators and job seekers prepare for the future.

Ohio employment in these metropolitan areas accounts for about four-fifths of all employment in the state. Projected growth rates by metropolitan area are: Columbus (10.9 percent), Cincinnati-Middletown (9.6 percent), Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor (7.7 percent), Canton-Massillon and Toledo (7.2 percent), Akron (7.0 percent), Youngstown-Warren-Boardman (6.8 percent) and Dayton (6.3 percent).

There are several common factors among the metropolitan areas. Across the state, manufacturing employment is projected to decline, therefore areas with a higher concentration of manufacturing tend to have a lower projected growth rate. The largest growth areas will be in health and business services. A substantial number of new jobs will be in health care occupations. About three-fourths of the job openings in Ohio's metropolitan areas will result from the need to replace workers who will leave the labor force, usually due to retirement. The remainder will be due to net employment growth.

The report also lists occupations, sorted by education or training level, where there is a high prospect for employment in a good-paying job. Occupations are defined as having high employment prospects if pay averages at least $12 an hour and they are expected to have a relatively large number of annual openings. Examples of occupations that meet these criteria in every metropolitan area include executive secretaries and administrative assistants; tractor-trailer truck drivers; carpenters; licensed and vocational practical nurses; automotive service technicians and mechanics; registered nurses; teachers and computer systems analysts. Projections are periodically updated to account for changing economic conditions to ensure that the outlook remains consistent with actual trends.

These reports may be viewed online at http://lmi.state.oh.us/PROJ/OhioJobOutlook.htm while printed copies of these reports may be obtained by calling the Bureau of Labor Market Information at (614) 752-9494.

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