County jobless rate back to double digits

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert County unemployment inched back into the double digits in July, as the county’s jobless rate went from 9.9 percent in June to 10.1 last month.

The local workforce increased in July to 14,400, while those employed and unemployed remained the same as in June, according to figures from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Van Wert County unemployment was still better than a year ago July, when the jobless rate stood at 11.6 percent.

The unemployment rate increases seen locally in June and July reversed a trend of five straight months of declining jobless percentages in the county.

Among neighboring counties, Mercer County again claimed honors for having the lowest unemployment rate, and in fact was tied with Geauga County in northeast Ohio for having the lowest jobless rate in Ohio at 6.5 percent. Counties around Van Wert County had mixed results in July, with Allen County remaining the same as in June at 10.1 percent, Auglaize County dropping a tenth of a percent to 8.1 percent, Paulding County increasing four-tenths of a percent to 9.9 percent and Putnam County showing a drop of two-tenths of a percent to 8.5 percent.

Among the state’s 88 counties, the July 2011 unemployment rates ranged from a low of 6.5 percent in Geauga and Mercer counties to a high of 15.6 percent in Pike County. Rates decreased in 43 of the 88 counties. In July, the comparable rate for Ohio was 9.2 percent (click here for a larger map).

Nine counties had unemployment rates below 8.0 percent in July. The counties with the lowest rates, other than Geauga and Mercer were: Delaware, 6.6; Holmes and Medina, 6.9; Lake, 7.3; Belmont, 7.5; Washington, 7.6; and Union, 7.9 percent.

Ten counties had unemployment rates above 12.0 percent during July. The counties with the highest rates, other than Pike, were: Meigs, 14.4; Clinton, 13.4; Highland, 13.1; Adams, 12.9; Morgan, 12.8; Huron, 12.7; Scioto, 12.6; and Crawford and Noble, 12.5 percent.

Ohio jobless rates indicate that the state has still not recovered fully from the recession that began in 2008 and continues the higher unemployment percentages seen in many counties in June.