Jobless rate rises in all 88 Ohio counties

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Unemployment rates rose, at least slightly in all 88 Ohio counties, according to figures released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

In Van Wert County, the jobless rate increase was slight, from 6.6 percent in May to 6.9 percent for June, according to the ODJFS.

Labor force estimates compiled by the state, in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, show Van Wert County with a workforce estimated at 13,900. That’s 300 people more than workforce figures released in May. Unfortunately, the estimates also show 1,000 of those workers unemployed, an increase of 100 over the 900 estimated to be unemployed in May (click here for statewide workforce estimates).

Among neighboring counties, the county with the largest increase was Putnam County, which went from 5.8 percent in May to 6.5 percent this past month. Allen County wasn’t far behind, with an increase from 7.6 percent in May to 8.2 percent in June. Mercer County again had the lowest unemployment rate in the state, but even its jobless rate increased, from 4.3 percent in May to 4.6 percent in June. Auglaize County was at 5.4 percent, up from 5.1 percent in May, while Paulding County had an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent in June, an increase of a half-percent over May’s 6.4 percent.

Elsewhere in the state, other counties other than Mercer and Auglaize with unemployment rates below 6 percent in June included Holmes (5.0 percent), Delaware (5.3 percent) and Union (5.7 percent).

Six counties also had unemployment rates above 10.5 percent in June. Those included Meigs (12.7 percent), Pike (12.4 percent), Scioto (11.6 percent), Adams (11.2 percent), Morgan (11.0 percent), and Jefferson (10.6 percent).

The comparable rate for Ohio in June was 7.5 percent, while the U.S. had a jobless rate of 7.6 percent this past month.