VW jobless rate up slightly in September

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

In Van Wert County, unemployment figures were up slightly, bucking a trend that saw 49 of Ohio’s 88 counties with unemployment decreases, according to information released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. In addition to Van Wert, 11 counties showed a jobless rate increase in September, while 27 counties stayed the same as in August.

In Van Wert County, labor force estimates compiled by the ODJFS, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, show the total workforce decreased 300 people, from 15,400 in August to 15,100 last month, while employed county residents also decreased, from 14,900 in August to 14,600 last month. Unemployment remained the same at 500 people.

Neighboring counties ran the gamut between those whose unemployment decreased, those who unemployment increased, and those whose unemployment numbers remained the same as in August.

Mercer County again led the state in September with a jobless rate of 2.8 percent, up from 2.7 percent in August, while Putnam County was second both in the area and in the state with an unemployment rate of 3.0 percent, the same as in August. Auglaize County’s unemployment rate also stayed the same as August, at 3.1 percent, while Paulding County saw an increase of a tenth of a percent, from 3.9 percent in August to 4.0 percent last month, and Allen County’s jobless rate actually declined a tenth of a percent, from 4.2 percent to 4.1 percent in September.

Statewide, Mercer and Putnam counties were the only counties at or below 3.0 percent, while there were seven counties had unemployment percentages at or above 6.0 percent, led by Monroe County’s 6.9 percent. Others at or below 6.0 percent were Meigs County, 6.2 percent; Adams, Jefferson, and Trumbull counties, 6.1 percent; and Noble and Scioto counties, 6.0 percent.

Ohio saw its unemployment rate decrease a tenth of a percent, from 4.2 percent to 4.1 percent, while the United States had an unemployment rate of 3.5 percent in September, down from 3.7 percent in August.