DARKE COUNTY — Unemployment numbers made an improvement in Darke County in August, falling from July’s estimate of 4.1 percent to 3.5 percent in August, according to information just released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Office of Workforce Development, Bureau of Labor Market Information.
The county’s unemployment rate was the 13th best in the state in August, which was the same as its July ranking. County unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.
The statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate also fell in August to 4.7 percent from 5 percent in July. The rate in August 2014 was 5.4 percent.
The civilian labor force in Ohio decreased by about 18,000, from an estimated 5,721,000 in July to about 5,703,000 in August, with the labor force participation rate estimated at 62.4 percent. About 59.5 percent of the state’s total population was working in August. The population of working age people in the state grew by about 5,000 in August.
The U.S. unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, was estimated at 5.1 percent in August, down from 5.3 percent in July. A year ago, in August 2014, U.S. unemployment was at 6.1 percent. An estimated 59.4 percent of the total population was working in August nationwide.
In Darke County, the labor force in August was estimated at 26,100 people, with 25,200 of those listed as employed. The size of the labor force remained the same from July to August, with approximately 100 more people employed.
Among the state’s 88 counties, preliminary August 2015 unemployment rates ranged from a low of 2.7 percent in Mercer County to a high of 8.3 percent in Monroe County. From July, unemployment rates decreased in all 88 counties. The comparable (not seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for Ohio was 4.3 percent in August.
Thirteen counties had unemployment rates at or below 3.5 percent in August. The counties with the lowest rates, other than Mercer, were Holmes, 2.9 percent; Delaware, 3 percent; Auglaize and Wyandot, 3.1 percent; Hancock, 3.2 percent; Madison, Putnam and Union, 3.3 percent; Wayne, 3.4 percent; and Darke, Logan and Warren, 3.5 percent.
Five counties had unemployment rates at or above 6.5 percent in August. The counties with the highest rates, other than Monroe, were Meigs, 7 percent; Adams, 6.8 percent; and Jefferson and Scioto, 6.5 percent.
Surrounding counties’ rates of unemployment for August 2015 were as follows: Auglaize, 3.1 percent, down from 3.8 percent; Mercer, 2.7 percent, down from 3.3 percent; Miami, 3.8 percent, down from 4.4 percent; Montgomery, 4.3 percent, down from 5.1 percent; Preble, 4 percent, down from 4.7 percent; and Shelby, 3.7 percent, down from 4.5 percent.
