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

Ohio's unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in April 2018, down from 4.4 percent in March 2018. Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment decreased 1,000 over the month, from a revised 5,577,700 in March to 5,576,700 in April 2018.

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in April was 249,000, down 4,000 from 253,000 in March. The number of unemployed has decreased by 43,000 in the past 12 months from 292,000. The April unemployment rate for Ohio decreased from 5.1 percent in April 2017.

The U.S. unemployment rate for April was 3.9 percent, down from 4.1 percent in March, and down from 4.4 percent in April 2017.

Total Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)

Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment decreased 1,000 over the month, from a revised 5,577,700 in March to 5,576,700 in April, according to the latest business establishment survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics) in cooperation with ODJFS.

Employment in goods-producing industries, at 926,300, decreased 1,700 over the month as losses in manufacturing (-1,800) and mining and logging (-100) outpaced gains in construction (+200). The private service-providing sector, at 3,864,600, added 2,100 jobs. Employment gains in trade, transportation, and utilities (+2,500), professional and business services (+2,300), other services (+1,300), and information (+900) surpassed losses in leisure and hospitality (-2,900), financial activities (-1,700), and educational and health services (-300). Government employment, at 785,800, decreased 1,400. Employment losses in local (-1,500) and state (-100) government exceeded gains in federal government (+200).

From April 2017 to April 2018, nonagricultural wage and salary employment grew 56,900. Employment in goods-producing industries increased 15,100. Manufacturing added 10,500 jobs in durable goods (+10,300) and nondurable goods (+200). Construction added 3,600 jobs and mining and logging added 1,000 jobs. Employment in the private service-providing sector increased 37,200 as gains in trade, transportation, and utilities (+13,500), educational and health services (+7,900), other services (+5,800), leisure and hospitality (+5,400), financial activities (+4,500), and professional and business services (+1,000) outweighed losses in information (-900). Government employment increased 4,600. Gains in state (+6,300) and federal (+500) government exceeded losses in local government (-2,200).

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) 752-9494. Ohioans can access tens of thousands of job openings, for positions ranging from file clerks to CEOs, at http://ohiomeansjobs.com.

News release dates
A calendar of 2018 release dates is available online at http://OhioLMI.com/laus/releases.htm. County, city, and metropolitan area unemployment rates for April 2018 will be posted online at http://OhioLMI.com/laus/current.htm on Tuesday, May 22. May 2018 unemployment rates and nonagricultural wage and salary data for Ohio will be released by ODJFS on Friday, June 15, 2018. This information and the monthly statistical summaries it is based on are also available at https://jfs.ohio.gov/ocomm.

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