9/24/2008 5:43:00 AM
County unemployment rate jumps to 10.2 percent
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By ED GEBERT
Times Bulletin News Writer
BY ED GEBERT
Times Bulletin News Writer
egebert@timesbulletin.com
The last time Van Wert saw unemployment numbers this high, the year was 1991 and the country was involved in the Gulf War.
Statistics released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services show Van Wert County breaking through the ten percent barrier with a jobless rate of 10.2 percent in August. However the uptick rounded unemployment and employment totals for the month of August were exactly the same as was reported for July - 14,500 people working and 1,600 unemployed.
Across the state, Van Wert County was one of only six with unemployment topping ten percent. Both Meigs and Morgan counties reported 10.8 percent to top Ohio counties. Pike County was at 10.5 percent in August. Van Wert County tied for fourth with Crawford and Vinton counties.
The latest increase continues a trend that started this spring when the rate jumped from 5.7 percent in March to 6.5 percent in April. Each month since that time has seen at least a slight increase with the biggest jump occurring in July when unemployment jumped more than two percentage points over a 30-day period. Last August, the unemployment rate in Van Wert County was 6.0 percent.
The situation looked better to the north. Paulding County's jobless rate actually fell from 8.3 percent in July to 7.4 percent in August. Meanwhile in Mercer County, the unemployment rate remained steady in August at 5.4 percent. That rate is the 86th highest of Ohio's 88 counties.
Jobless rates also tumbled in Auglaize County (6.4 to 5.8 percent), Putnam County (6.7 to 5.9 percent), Defiance County (9.1 to 8.0 percent), Henry County (8.8 to 8.0 percent), and Williams County (10.1 to 8.7 percent). In Allen County, unemployment reached 9.3 percent, a slight jump from July's 9.1 percent.
In numbers released last Friday, ODJFS reported Ohio's unemployment rate at 7.4 percent for August, up from 7.2 percent in July. Ohio's nonfarm wage and salary employment decreased 3,700 over the month, from 5,410,500 in July, to 5,406,800 in August.
"Ohio's labor market continued to mirror the national trend by showing signs of decline in August," ODJFS Director Helen Jones-Kelley said. "Larger decreases in the goods-producing sectors resulted from continued losses in manufacturing and durable goods."
The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in August was 445,000, up from 432,000 in July. The number of unemployed has increased by 106,000 in the past 12 months from 339,000. The August unemployment rate for Ohio was up from 5.7 percent in August 2007.
The U.S. unemployment rate for August was 6.1 percent, up from 5.7 percent in July.
Much of the loss of jobs statewide was concentrated in manufacturing and durable goods. Service-providing employment rose by 2,800 jobs in August. Health care and social assistance jobs increased by 1,600, leisure and hospitality by 800, government by 700 and educational services by 700 jobs.
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