Good, bad news in county’s jobless data

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Like a majority of Ohio counties, unemployment rose in Van Wert County in June, but there was some good news as well in information released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

According to the ODJFS, 78 of Ohio’s 88 counties saw an increase in unemployment last month, while the jobless rate stayed the same in five others. Only three counties experienced a decrease in unemployment in June.

Van Wert County saw its unemployment rate rise two-tenths of a percent, from 4.1 percent in May to 4.3 percent last month. The county did see some positives, though, with estimated total workforce numbers increasing in the last few months — from 14,300 in April to 14,800 last month — while the number of people employed has also risen, from 13,800 in April to 14,200 in June.

Unfortunately, the number of people without a job also increased, from 500 in April to 600 last month, according to estimates compiled by the ODJFS, in conjunction with the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Area counties also followed the statewide trend, with Mercer County again having the lowest unemployment rate in the state, at 3.4 percent, although that was an increase of three-tenths of a percent over May’s 3.1 percent. Auglaize County saw its unemployment rate rise two-tenths of a percent, from 3.5 percent to 3.7 percent, while Putnam County’s jobless rate increased a tenth of a percent, from 3.7 percent to 3.8 percent.

In Paulding County, unemployment rose two-tenths of a percent, from 4.7 percent in May to 4.9 percent last month.

Statewide, seven other counties other than Mercer, Auglaize and Putnam, had unemployment rates at or below 4.0 percent. They were Delaware and Wyandot (3.6 percent), Holmes (3.7 percent), Hancock and Union (3.9 percent) and Wayne (4.0 percent).

On the other end of the spectrum, 10 counties also had unemployment rates at or above 7.0 percent in June. They include Monroe County (9.6 percent), Meigs County (8.1 percent), Adams County (7.7 percent), Scioto County (7.5 percent), Jackson County (7.4 percent), Jefferson County (7.2 percent), Athens and Pike counties (7.1 percent) and Lorain and Noble counties (7.0 percent).

The comparable unemployment rate for Ohio was 5.2 percent in June.