The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

County sees unemployment below 4%

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert County saw another healthy decrease in unemployment during the month of October, with the jobless rate sliding under 4 percent for the first time in nearly 15 years.

Jobless Rate Map 10-2014The county’s unemployment rate in October was 3.9 percent, the lowest it’s been since 2000. The county’s workforce numbers remained the same, at 14,200, but those employed notched up 100, from 13,500 to 13,600. The number of unemployed remained the same at 600.

Statewide, October unemployment rates ranged from a low of 2.7 percent in Mercer County, to a high of 9.5 percent in Monroe County. It was also the first time the entire state saw unemployment drop below 10 percent in more than a decade.

Six counties in Ohio had unemployment rates at or below 3.5 percent. In addition to Mercer County, those included Holmes County, 2.9 percent; Auglaize County, 3.2 percent; Delaware County, 3.3 percent; Hancock County, 3.4 percent; and Putnam County, 3.5 percent.

Three counties had unemployment rates at or above 7.0 percent. In addition to Monroe County, they include Jackson County, 7.1 percent; and Meigs County, 7.0 percent.

The comparable unemployment rate for the state in October was 4.6 percent.

Van Wert and its neighboring counties all saw decreases in unemployment in October. In addition to Van Wert’s decrease of four-tenths of a percent, Allen County dropped a half a percent, from 5.0 to 4.5 percent; Paulding County saw a decrease of three-tenths of a percent, from 4.2 percent to 3.9 percent; Auglaize County dropped from 3.5 percent to 3.2 percent; Putnam County’s jobless rate was down four-tenths of a percent, from 3.9 percent to 3.5 percent; and Mercer County’s unemployment decreased from 2.9 percent to 2.7 percent.

POSTED: 11/26/14 at 8:11 am. FILED UNDER: News