After several months of holding steady, the state’s jobless rate has climbed to its highest level in nearly three years.
The unemployment rate for August ticked up two tenths of a point to 5.4 percent, its highest rate since September 2014. Bret Crow speaks for the state department of Job and Family Services.
“Ohio’s unemployment rate did inch up a bit in August, but the good news is the state added more than 5,000 jobs – 5,200 to be exact," Crow says.
There are now 311,000 jobless workers in Ohio, with 17,000 leaving the work force last month. Leisure and hospitality and educational and health services picked up jobs, while government, trade, transportation and utilities lost jobs. Ohio’s jobless rate is a full point higher than the US rate.
