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

Ohio's unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in May 2019, down from a revised 4.2 percent in April. Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment decreased 3,900 over the month, from a revised 5,597,500 in April to 5,593,600 in May 2019.

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in May was 239,000, down 8,000 from 247,000 in April. The number of unemployed has decreased by 25,000 in the past 12 months from 264,000. The May unemployment rate for Ohio decreased from 4.6 percent in May 2018.

The U.S. unemployment rate for May was 3.6 percent, unchanged from April, and down from 3.8 percent in May 2018.

Total Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)

Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment decreased 3,900 over the month, from a revised 5,597,500 in April to 5,593,600 in May, 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 937,300, increased 300 over the month as gains in manufacturing (+2,400) exceeded losses in construction (-2,000) and mining and logging (-100). The private service-providing sector, at 3,877,200, lost 3,400 jobs. Employment losses in educational and health services (-2,400), financial activities (-1,500), other services (-1,000), and information (-600) surpassed gains in leisure and hospitality (+1,200), trade, transportation, and utilities (+700), and professional and business services (+200). Government employment, at 779,100, decreased 800 as losses in local government (-900) outpaced gains in state government (+100). Federal government employment did not change over the month.

From May 2018 to May 2019, nonagricultural wage and salary employment grew 42,900. Employment in goods-producing industries increased 9,200. Manufacturing increased 7,900 with gains in nondurable goods (+5,300) and durable goods (+2,600). Construction added 1,100 jobs and mining and logging added 200 jobs. Employment in the private service-providing sector increased 33,800. Employment gains in educational and health services (+15,300), leisure and hospitality (+13,900), professional and business services (+5,700), and financial activities (+1,500) exceeded losses in information (-2,200) and other services (-400). Trade, transportation, and utilities did not change over the year. Government employment decreased 100 as losses in local government (-4,800) surpassed gains in state (+3,800) and federal (+900) government.

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 through the OhioLMI app, which is available for free on mobile devices through the App Store or Google Play. 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 2019 release dates is available online at http://OhioLMI.com/laus/releases.htm. County, city, and metropolitan area unemployment rates for May 2019 will be posted online at http://OhioLMI.com/laus/current.htm on Tuesday, June 25. June 2019 unemployment rates and nonagricultural wage and salary data for Ohio will be released by ODJFS on Friday, July 19, 2019. This information and the monthly statistical summaries it is based on are also available at https://jfs.ohio.gov/ocomm.

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