County’s jobless rate up slightly in July

Independent staff reports/ODJFS information

Van Wert County saw its unemployment rate trend upward slightly, while neighboring counties saw a small decrease in July, according to figures released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services on Tuesday.

The county’s jobless rate increased from 6.9 percent in June to 7.1 percent last month, according to estimates provided by the state, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The estimates show Van Wert County’s employment decreased by 100 workers in July, which could be a due to out-of-county employers laying off, since employment has remained stable within the county, according to the Van Wert Economic Development Office.

Unfortunately, the county was one of only 20 counties that didn’t see a decrease in unemployment in July. Certainly none of Van Wert’s surrounding counties were among that number. Mercer County continued to lead the state in having the lowest unemployment rate, dropping from 4.6 percent in June to 4.5 percent last month. Auglaize County also had one of the lowest jobless rates in the state at 5.3 percent in July, down from 5.4 percent in June, while Putnam County saw a decrease from 6.5 percent in June to 6.1 percent last month, Paulding County dropped from 6.9 percent in June to 6.7 percent in July and Allen County’s unemployment decreased from 8.2 percent to 8.0 percent in July.

Elsewhere around the state, 68 counties saw a decrease in their unemployment rate, led by Mercer County and followed by Holmes County (4.9 percent), Delaware County (5.2 percent), Auglaize County and Geauga and Union counties (5.8 percent).

At the high end, Meigs County had the highest unemployment rate in the state at 12.3 percent, followed by Pike County (12.1 percent), Scioto County (11.1 percent), and Huron and Morgan counties (11.0 percent).

Despite the small increase, Van Wert County remained under the state (7.2 percent) and national (7.4 percent) unemployment averages.