Ohio's unemployment rate rose to 10.5 percent in October from 10.1 percent the month before, but, curiously, the state's job count rose by 1,400, Ohio officials said yesterday.
That is the reverse of the trend set by the past two months in which the jobless rate and the state's nonfarm job total both decreased, a pattern that had economists scratching their heads.
One explanation for the October increases is that the previous unemployment rate had been skewed by the large number of workers who had given up their search. That removed them from the state's tally of the labor force and helped push down the rate.
Last month's numbers represent a return to some semblance of normal, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, with the unemployment rate reflecting the actual state of the job market better than it has in recent months.
"This is why we didn't get overly excited when the rates started to drop," said Brian Harter, spokesman for the agency.
His best guess is that the jobless rate will begin a sustainable, long-term decline sometime next spring or summer.
The national unemployment rate was 10.2 percent in October, up from 9.8 percent the previous month. The state and national figures are both adjusted to account for seasonal jobs.
In Ohio, the number of unemployed workers was 618,000, up 24,000 from the previous month.
The fastest-growing sector was professional and business services, up 6,800 jobs, followed by trade, transportation and utilities, up 1,900 jobs.
On the other end, financial activities had the greatest losses, down 2,200 jobs.
Notably, durable-goods manufacturing gained 400 jobs. This is a sign that factories might be ramping up after a prolonged run of job losses and plant closings.
The number of nonfarm jobs in the state totals 5.1 million.
No comments:
Post a Comment