Staff report and press release
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The employment numbers in Ohio this year have been an up-and-down roller coaster, but neither the hills nor the valleys are very steep. The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services reports that the state’s unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percent in May to 5.1 percent.
The rate decrease ended a two-month span in which the rate increased each month by one-tenth. In February, Ohio’s unemployment was 5.0 percent.
The latest report, based on information compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor is shown below.
Ohio and U.S. Employment Situation (Seasonally Adjusted)
Ohio’s unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in May 2016, down from 5.2 percent in April. Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 9,200 over the month, from a revised 5,477,600 in April to 5,486,800 in May 2016.
The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in May was 300,000, down 2,000 from 302,000 in April. The number of unemployed has increased by 18,000 in the past 12 months from 282,000. The May unemployment rate for Ohio was 0.2 percentage points higher than the May 2015 rate of 4.9 percent.
The U.S. unemployment rate for May was 4.7 percent, down from 5.0 percent in April and down from 5.5 percent in May 2015.
Total Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment (Seasonally Adjusted)
Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 9,200 over the month, from a revised 5,477,600 in April to 5,486,800 in May 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 900,400, lost 4,600 jobs over the month in manufacturing (-3,100), construction (-1,300), and mining and logging (-200). The private service-providing sector, at 3,817,400, added 14,700 jobs. Employment gains in educational and health services (+7,900), leisure and hospitality (+3,900), other services (+2,500), trade, transportation, and utilities (+800), and financial activities (+300) exceeded losses in information (-400) and professional and business services (-300). Government employment, at 769,000, decreased 900 as losses in local government
(-4,700) surpassed gains in state (+3,100) and federal (+700) government.
From May 2015 to May 2016, nonagricultural wage and salary employment grew 70,900. Employment in goods-producing industries decreased 400. Manufacturing employment decreased 4,800 as losses in durable goods (-11,500) exceeded gains in nondurable goods (+6,700). Mining and logging lost 3,000 jobs over the year. Construction added 7,400 jobs. The private service-providing sector added 70,400 jobs. Gains in educational and health services (+29,800), leisure and hospitality (+17,600), trade, transportation, and utilities (+10,800), financial activities (+8,900), other services (+7,500), and information (+200) outweighed losses in professional and business services (-4,400). Government employment increased 900 as gains in state (+6,200) and federal (+1,100) government offset losses in local government (-6,400).