DARKE COUNTY — The unemployment rate in Darke County continued its downward trend in May, reaching 3.5 percent according to to information released recently by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Office of Workforce Development, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The April rate was an estimated 3.9 percent in Darke County.

County unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted. Darke County ranked eighth lowest in unemployment out of 88 counties in Ohio.

The statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in May fell slightly from the April estimate, to 5.1 percent from 5.2 percent. The rate in May 2015 was 4.9 percent.

The civilian labor force in Ohio grew in May to an estimated 5,826,000 from 5,817,000 from in April. The labor force participation rate was estimated at 63.6 percent, up from 63.5 percent in April.

The U.S. unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, fell to 4.7 percent in May from 5 percent in April, with a labor force participation rate of 62.6 percent. A year ago, in May 2015, the unemployment rate nationwide was estimated at 5.5 percent.

In Darke County, the labor force in May was estimated at 27,100, with 26,200 employed.

Among the state’s 88 counties, preliminary May 2016 unemployment rates ranged from a low of 2.9 percent in Mercer County to a high of 10.8 percent in Monroe County.

From April, unemployment rates decreased in 76 counties, increased in six counties and did not change in six counties.

The comparable (not seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for Ohio was 4.6 percent in May.

Ten counties had unemployment rates at or below 3.5 percent in May. The counties with the lowest rates, other than Mercer, were Holmes, 3.2 percent; Auglaize, Delaware and Putnam, 3.3 percent; Hancock and Wyandot, 3.4 percent; and Darke, Madison and Union, 3.5 percent.

Six counties had unemployment rates above 7.5 percent in May. The counties with the highest rates, other than Monroe, were Jefferson, 8.2 percent; Noble, 7.8 percent; Meigs and Morgan, 7.7 percent; and Harrison, 7.6 percent.

Surrounding counties’ rates of unemployment for May 2016 were as follows: Auglaize, 3.3 percent, same as April; Mercer, 2.9 percent, down from 3 percent; Miami, 3.9 percent, down from 4.1 percent; Montgomery, 4.6 percent, down from 4.7 percent; Preble, 4.3 percent, down from 4.6 percent; and Shelby, 3.8 percent, down from 4.0 percent.