County jobless rate lowest in 6 years

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert County saw a big decrease in its unemployment numbers for December 2013, according to figures provided by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. However, the news wasn’t all good for the county.

According to figures released Tuesday by the ODJFS, Van Wert County’s jobless rate was 6.1 percent, down seven-tenths of a percent from November’s adjusted unemployment rate of 6.8 percent and the lowest unemployment numbers in nearly six years.

However, job force estimates compiled by the state, in conjunction with the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, project a decrease of 100 in the county’s workforce, from an estimated 14,000 to 13,900. The number of people employed (13,000) and unemployed (900) remained the same as in November 2013 (click here for statewide civilian labor force numbers).

According to the ODJFS, unemployment decreased in 75 of Ohio’s 88 counties, including all of Van Wert County’s neighbors. Van Wert tied with Allen County as the area county with the biggest change in December. Allen County also decreased seven-tenths of a percent, from 7.7 percent to 7.0 percent, but still has the highest unemployment rate among neighboring counties.

Once again, Mercer County leads the area – and the state – with a jobless rate of 3.8 percent, down from 4.4 percent in November 2013. Auglaize County was second in the area at 4.6 percent, down from 5.1 percent, while Putnam County showed the smallest change, decreasing to 5.7 percent from 5.9 percent in November 2013.

Paulding County tied with Van Wert County at 6.1 percent, a decrease of five-tenths of a percent for Van Wert’s neighbor to the north.

Statewide, Holmes County has the second lowest unemployment rate in the state at 4.3 percent, followed by Auglaize and Delaware counties at 4.6 percent and Union County with a jobless rate at 4.8 percent.

At the high end of the unemployment scale was Monroe County, which had an unemployment rate of 14.6 percent in December 2013. Others with rates above 10.0 percent were Pike County (11.7 percent), Ottawa County (11.5 percent), Morgan County (11.1 percent), Meigs County (10.9 percent), Huron and Scioto counties (10.8 percent), and Adams County (10.5 percent).