DARKE COUNTY — According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in December 2016, unchanged from November. Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 10,300 over the month, from a revised 5,506,900 in November to 5,517,200 in December 2016.
As well, there was a reported decrease in the number of job openings posted during roughly the same period.
The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in December was 282,000, up 4,000 from 278,000 in November. The number of unemployed has increased by 9,000 in the past 12 months from 273,000. The December unemployment rate for Ohio was 0.1 percentage points higher than the December 2015 rate of 4.8 percent.
The U.S. unemployment rate for December was 4.7 percent, 0.1 percentage points higher than in November 2016, and 0.3 percentage points lower than in December 2015.
Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 10,300 over the month, from a revised 5,506,900 in November to 5,517,200 in December 2016, according to the latest business establishment survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics) in cooperation with ODJFS.
Goods-producing industries, at 909,500, lost 1,400 jobs as losses in construction (-2,800) exceeded gains in manufacturing (+1,100) and mining and logging (+300). The private service-providing sector, at 3,828,800, added 13,100 jobs. Employment gains in professional and business services (+5,900), trade, transportation, and utilities (+3,200), educational and health services (+2,700), financial activities (+1,600), information (+900), and leisure and hospitality (+800) surpassed losses in other services (-2,000). Government employment, at 778,900, decreased 1,400 as losses in state government (-4,300) outweighed gains in local (+1,600) and federal (+1,300) government.
From December 2015 to December 2016, nonagricultural wage and salary employment grew 41,800. Employment in goods-producing industries decreased 2,500. Manufacturing lost 2,900 jobs as losses in durable goods (-8,000) surpassed gains in nondurable goods (+5,100). Mining and logging lost 1,500 jobs. Construction added 1,900 jobs. The private service-providing sector added 41,000 jobs. Employment gains in leisure and hospitality (+13,300), educational and health services (+11,200), financial activities (+10,000), trade, transportation, and utilities (+9,000), and information (+800) exceeded losses in professional and business services (-3,200) and other services (-100).
Government employment increased 3,300 as gains in local (+5,000) and federal (+2,400) government outweighed losses in state government (-4,100).
According to Ohio Means Jobs, there was a decrease in job advertisements posted from November through December 2016, as well as from a year prior.
A total of 15,796 job openings were posted online from November 14, 2016, through December 13, 2016, for Auglaize, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Darke, Fayette, Greene, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Shelby Counties, according to data from The Conference Board. This was a decrease of 1,214 ads from the previous reporting period. Compared to the same time period a year ago, this reflects a decrease of 4,936 ads. The graph below shows historical trends for ads posted in this area over the last several years.
According to Ohio Means Jobs, the top occupations with the most area job ads included Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons, First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers, Computer User Support Specialists, and Maintenance and Repair Workers.
All data cited are produced in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor. Data sources include Current Population Survey (U.S. data); Current Employment Statistics Program (nonagricultural wage and salary employment data); and Local Area Unemployment Statistics Program (Ohio unemployment rates). More complete listings of the data appear in the monthly Ohio Labor Market Review. Unemployment rates for all Ohio counties, as well as cities with populations of 50,000 or more, are presented in the monthly ODJFS Civilian Labor Force Estimates publication.
