Ohio unemployment numbers up in Feb.

VW independent/submitted information

Ohio’s unemployment rate increased slightly to 5.1 percent in February 2017, up from 5.0 percent in January 2017, according to figures released Friday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased just 15,200 over the month, from a revised 5,506,800 in January to 5,522,000 in February.

Moreover, the number of workers unemployed in Ohio in February was 294,000, up 7,000 from 287,000 in January. The number of unemployed has increased by 9,000 in the past 12 months from 285,000. The February unemployment rate for Ohio was up from 5.0 percent in February 2016.

The U.S. unemployment rate for February 2017 was 4.7 percent, 0.1 percentage points lower than in January 2017, and 0.2 percentage points lower than in February 2016.

Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 15,200 over the month, from a revised 5,506,800 in January to 5,522,000 in February 2017, according to the latest business establishment survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics) in cooperation with ODJFS.

Employment in goods-producing industries, at 921,600, increased 7,000 over the month. Job gains in construction (+6,300) and manufacturing (+900) outweighed job losses in mining and logging (-200). The private service-providing sector, at 3,828,700, increased 9,200.

Employment gains in leisure and hospitality (+4,000), educational and health services (+3,900), trade, transportation, and utilities (+2,000), and professional and business services (+100) surpassed losses in financial activities (-400), information (-300), and other services (-100). Government employment, at 771,700, decreased 1,000 as losses in state government (-3,100) exceeded gains in local (+1,800) and federal (+300) government.

From February 2016 to February 2017, nonagricultural wage and salary employment grew 45,400. Employment in goods-producing industries increased 13,900. Construction added 8,900 jobs. Manufacturing added 5,700 jobs as gains in nondurable goods (+7,200) surpassed losses in durable goods (-1,500). Mining and logging lost 700 jobs. The private service-providing sector added 36,100 jobs.

Employment gains in educational and health services (+13,600), trade, transportation, and utilities (+9,900), financial activities (+6,700), leisure and hospitality (+5,200), professional and business services (+1,700), and information (+600) exceeded losses in other services (-1,600). Government employment decreased 4,600 as losses in state (-3,800) and local (-1,500) government outweighed gains in federal government (+700).