ODJFS: unemployment rate goes down

VW independent staff and submitted information

COLUMBUS — New figures from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services show the state’s unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in May, down slightly from 4.0 percent in April. Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 4,800 over the month, from a revised 5,474,700 in April to 5,479,500 in May.

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in May was 226,000, down from 233,000 in April. The number of unemployed has decreased by 86,000 in the past 12 months from 312,000. The May unemployment rate for Ohio decreased from 5.4 percent in May, 2021. The U.S. unemployment rate for May 2022 was 3.6 percent, unchanged from April and down from 5.8 percent in May of 2021.

Last month, the labor force participation rate in Ohio was 62 percent, up from 61.8 percent in April and up from 61.7 percent in May, 2021. During the same period, the national labor force participation rate was 62.3 percent, up from 62.2 percent in April and up from 61.6 percent in May of 2021.

May, 2022 county-by-county unemployment rates will be released on Tuesday.