County follows lower jobless rate trend

VW independent/ODJFS information

Van Wert County again followed the statewide trend that saw 79 of Ohio’s 88 counties report lower unemployment rates in September.

Van Wert County’s jobless rate dropped a tenth of a percent, from 4.4 percent in August to 4.3 percent last month. According to figures supplied by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, in conjunction with the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the county’s workforce increased by 100 people, from 14,100 to 14,200, while the number of people employed also was up, from 13,400 in August to 13,500 in September. The number of people without jobs stayed the same, at 600.

Statewide, Mercer County again led the state with an unemployment rate of 2.9 percent, down a tenth of a percent from August’s 3.0 percent. Monroe County (10.1 percent) was the only county in the state with a jobless rate above 7.7 percent. In addition to Mercer County, other counties with unemployment rates below 4.0 percent were Holmes (3.4 percent), Auglaize (3.5 percent, which stayed the same as August), Delaware (3.7 percent), Hancock (3.8 percent) and Putnam and Union (3.9 percent, with Putnam County’s jobless rate decreasing a tenth from August’s 4.0 percent).

On the low end of the scale, other than Monroe, those counties with an unemployment rate above 7.0 percent include Meigs (7.7 percent), Pike (7.6 percent), Scioto (7.2 percent), and Jefferson (7.1 percent).

Ohio’s unemployment rate for September was 5.1 percent.

Van Wert and its neighboring counties all had lower unemployment rates than either Ohio’s or the national average.

Among neighboring counties, Mercer, Auglaize and Putnam all had jobless rates among the lowest in the state, while Paulding County was a bit lower than Van Wert at 4.2 percent in September, down from 4.4 percent in August. Allen County had the highest area jobless rate at 5.0 percent, down from 5.1 percent in August.