County Unemployment Reaches 8% In March

Unemployment in Fulton County jumped six-tenths of a percentage point in March, reaching 8.3%, as estimated by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Fulton County had the highest unemployment rate in the four-county area, a tenth of a point higher than Henry County, 8.2%.

Henry and Fulton counties had February unemployment of 7.8%, revised downward by a tenth of a point by ODJFS.

Big Jump

Defiance County's unemployment jump from 6% in February to 7.9% in March, a 1.9 percent jump.

Williams County had the lowest rate in March, at 6.4%.

ODJFS estimated the Fulton County labor force had 23,500 persons, of whom 21,600 were employed and 1,900 were unemployed.

Fulton County tied with Guernsey County, in southeastern Ohio, for the 13th highest unemployment rate in Ohio.

State, Nation

Morgan County, in southeast Ohio, had the highest unemployment in the state, at 11.2%. There were three other counties with unemployment above 10%: Pike and Meigs, 10.2%, and Huron, 10.1%.

Delaware County had the lowest at 4.1%.

All county unemployment data is not seasonally adjusted. A comparable figure for Ohio was 6.1%; the unadjusted national unemployment rate in March, as estimated by ODJFS, was 5.2%

Once seasonal adjustments are applied the Ohio unemployment is 5.7%; the U.S. figure is 5.1%.