Local jobless rate lower than state average

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Among the state’s 88 counties, preliminary August, 2025 unemployment rates ranged from a low of 3.2 percent in northeast Ohio’s Geauga and Medina counties to a high of 7.4 percent in Meigs County, in southern Ohio.

The latest figures supplied by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services show August unemployment rates increased in just two counties and decreased in the remaining 86 counties.

Mercer County, which traditionally has had the state’s lowest jobless rate, was at 3.6 percent last month, down from 3.9 percent in July. It also marked Ohio’s fifth lowest unemployment rate last month. Putnam County was right behind with the sixth lowest jobless rate, 3.7 percent.

Van Wert County’s August unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, down from 5.1 percent the previous month, ranking it No. 70 in the state. The county had a workforce of 14,500, with 13,800 employed.

Auglaize County was ranked No. 77 at 4.1 percent, while Paulding County was ranked No. 60, at 4.7 percent. Allen County had the region’s highest jobless rate in August, 5.4 percent, which was above the statewide average of 5.0 percent.

According to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, seven counties had unemployment rates below 4.0 percent last month: Geauga and Medina counties, 3.2 percent; Lake and Holmes counties, 3.5 percent,; Mercer County, 3.6 percent; Putnam County, 3.7 percent, and Ashtabula County, 3.9 percent.

Seven counties had unemployment rates at or above 6.5 percent in August: Meigs County, 7.4 percent; Pike and Scioto counties, 7.2 percent; Athens County, 6.8 percent, and Monroe, Noble and Ross counties, 6.5 percent.