County’s jobless rate under state average

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Van Wert County’s December jobless rate was nearly a full percentage point below the statewide average, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

The county’s unemployment rate last month was 3.6 percent, compared to the Ohio average of 4.5 percent. It was the same as the November, 2025 rate, and was also slightly lower than December, 2024, when the county’s jobless rate was 3.7 percent.

Mercer County was tied with Holmes County for Ohio’s lowest jobless rate, 2.8 percent. Auglaize County has the state’s sixth lowest unemployment rate in December, 3.2 percent, while Putnam County tied with Cuyahoga and Lake counties for the eighth lowest rate, 3.4 percent.

December unemployment rates in Paulding County (3.8 percent) and Defiance County (3.9 percent) came in under the state average, while Allen County (4.5 percent) matched Ohio’s statewide average.

From November, jobless rates increased in 64 counties, decreased in 11 counties, and did not change in 13 counties.

12 counties had unemployment rates at or below 3.5 percent in December. The counties with the lowest rates, other than Mercer and Homes, were Medina, 2.9 percent; Geauga and Union, 3.1 percent; Auglaize, 3.2 percent; Delaware, 3.3 percent; Cuyahoga, Lake, and Putnam, 3.4 percent, and Warren and Wayne, 3.5 percent.

Seven counties had unemployment rates above six percent in December. The counties with the highest rates, other than Pike were: Ottawa, 6.5 percent; Meigs, 6.4 percent; Huron, 6.3 percent; Noble and Vinton, 6.2 percent, and Adams, 6.1 percent.