The state’s jobless rate last month was unchanged from July. But that’s mixed news to some who watch the economy.
The state’s unemployment rate has been sitting at 4.6 percent for two months straight. The conservative Buckeye Institute notes that while the state added 9,400 private sector jobs, Ohio is still more than half a point behind the nation’s jobless rate. And it also says that manufacturing lost jobs. It blames that decrease on increased tariffs. The progressive Policy Matters Ohio says this year may be the best year for jobs since 2014, noting that Ohio has recovered the jobs it lost in the Great Recession. But it says census data is showing that there were still 118,000 more Ohioans in poverty last year than there were before the recession.
