ARCHBOLD WEATHER

Unemployment Down After Spike


 

 

After a brief spike in July, the estimated unemployment rate in Fulton County dropped to 3.9% for August, the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services said last week.

So far in 2019, ODJFS statistics show the estimated unemployment rate in the county hitting a low in April, at 3.2%. It increased in May to 3.4%, 3.9% in June, and 4.2% in July, before dropping in August.

Out of the 88 counties in Ohio, unemployment dropped in 82 and remained the same in six.

Each county in the fourcounty area saw its rate drop from July to August. Defiance County went from 4.7% to 4.3%. Henry County went from 4.6% to 4.1%, and Williams County, which has had the lowest rate in the fourcounty area, dropped from 3.6% to 3.4%.

Statistics maintained by this newspaper show Fulton County had 3.9% unemployment five other times in the last 128 months: August and October 2015; May 2016; November 2018; and June 2019.

There were 21,500 persons working in Fulton County. When 900 unemployed workers are added to that figure, its total labor force is 22,400.

High, Low

Monroe County, in southwest Ohio on the West Virginia border, had the highest rate in the state, at 7.4%, down one-tenth (.1%) of a percentage point from July.

The lowest rate was in Mercer County, in west central Ohio on the Indiana border, at 2.7%, down twotenths (.2%) of a point.

State, Nation

All county data is not seasonally adjusted. Comparable figures for the state and the nation were 4.2% and 3.8%, respectively. When seasonal adjustments are applied, Ohio was at 4.1%, while the national rate was 3.7%

There were about 5.88 million people in the Ohio labor force in August. More than 5.6 million were working; 268,100 were unemployed and seeking employment.