VW County’s July jobless rate unchanged

Staff/ODJFS information

Unemployment in Van Wert County remained unchanged at 7.2 percent for the month of July, according to information released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Approximately half of Ohio’s 88 counties saw a decrease in unemployment, while the other 44 counties either remained the same or saw an increase in unemployment (click here for a larger map).

Statewide, eight counties had unemployment rates at or below 6 percent in July. Led by Mercer County’s 4.4 percent jobless rate, counties under 6 percent included Holmes (4.9 percent), Delaware (5.2 percent), Auglaize, Geauga and Putnam (5.7 percent), Union (5.8 percent) and Medina (6.0 percent).

Counties with the highest unemployment included Pike County, which led the state with an unemployment rate of 12.9 percent. Others with high unemployment rates (over 10 percent) included Meigs (12.1 percent), Scioto (11.0 percent), Morgan (10.6 percent), Adams and Clinton (10.5 percent), Jefferson (10.3 percent), and Huron, Noble and Vinton (10.2 percent).

Van Wert County’s 7.2 percent unemployment rate ranked it 55th among Ohio’s 88 counties, with more than half of the state’s counties having higher jobless percentages. Among neighboring counties, Mercer County’s 4.4 percent rate in July was a decrease from 4.5 percent in June, Auglaize County’s 5.7 percent was down from 5.8 percent in June and Putnam County’s July rate of 5.7 percent was also a drop from 5.8 percent in June. Paulding County had an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent, down a tenth of a percent from 7.0 percent in June, while Allen County’s jobless rate was 7.7 percent, down from 7.8 percent in June.

Although Van Wert County’s jobless rate was unchanged, it was substantially better than a year ago, when the county saw unemployment of 9.7 percent.