County jobless rate unchanged in Nov.

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Unemployment was pretty much stagnant across the area – and the state – during November, according to figures released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services on Friday.

Van Wert County’s jobless rate stayed the same as October at 6.7 percent, according to estimates compiled by the ODJFS, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The estimates show 13,000 county residents were employed in November, while another 900 people were without jobs (click here for civilian labor force estimates for all 88 counties).

Similar results were seen in neighboring counties, which either stayed the same as in October or unemployment increased a tenth of a percent. In addition to Van Wert County, neighboring counties whose jobless rate remained the same included Auglaize (5.1 percent), Allen (7.7 percent), and Putnam (5.9 percent). Those counties where unemployment increased slightly in November included Mercer (up a tenth of a percent, from 4.3 percent to 4.4 percent), and Paulding (up a tenth to 6.5 percent, from 6.4 percent in November).

No one’s crying tears for Mercer County, though, since that county again has the lowest unemployment percentage in the state, followed by Holmes (4.9 percent), Auglaize, Delaware (5.2 percent) and Union (5.4 percent).

States with high unemployment included Monroe County (15.6 percent), Meigs County (12.3 percent), Pike County (12.1 percent), Scioto County (11.2 percent), and Ottawa County (11.1 percent).

Statewide, 60 of Ohio’s 88 counties saw an increase in their unemployment rate, while the other counties either stayed the same or decreased.

The comparable rate for the state was 7.1 percent in November.