County jobless numbers down slightly

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Van Wert County was one of just nine Ohio counties that saw a decrease in its unemployment rate in December, according to figures released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services on Tuesday. A total of 68 counties saw an increase in unemployment, while the jobless rate in the remaining 11 counties stayed the same in December.

Moreover, the Van Wert County’s jobless rate decrease was small, just a tenth of a point, from a revised 3.9 percent in November to 3.8 percent last month, and workforce estimates provided by the ODJFS, in conjunction with the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, shows more negatives than positives in the county’s new unemployment numbers.

ODJFS workforce numbers show a decline of 200 in the county’s total workforce, from 14,100 in November to 13,900 in December, while employment also dropped 100, from 13,500 to 13,400. Unemployment remained the same at 500.

In fact, jobless numbers would likely have stayed the same if the ODJFS hadn’t revised November 2014’s numbers up, from the 3.8 percent listed in December to an estimate of 3.9 percent this month.

Among neighboring counties, Mercer County was the only county to see a decrease in unemployment numbers, going from a state-low of 2.7 percent in November to 2.6 percent this past month. Auglaize County remained the same at 3.1 percent, while Paulding County also stayed constant at 3.9 percent.

Putnam County saw an increase in the jobless rate, from 3.5 percent in November to 3.7 percent in December, while Allen County also showed a rise in unemployment, from 4.4 percent in November to 4.5 percent last month.

Elsewhere around the state, three counties other than Mercer and Auglaize had unemployment rates below 3.5 percent. They included Holmes County (2.9 percent), Delaware County (3.1 percent) and Hancock County (3.4 percent).

Seven counties had unemployment rates above 7 percent. Those include Monroe County (10.0 percent), Ottawa County (8.4 percent), Meigs County (8.1 percent), Huron and Morgan counties (7.9 percent), Pike County (7.6 percent) and Scioto County (7.2 percent).