County jobless rate rises slightly in May

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Unemployment was mixed across Ohio, with Van Wert County and most neighboring counties seeing a slight uptick in joblessness in May, according to estimates released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Here in Van Wert County, unemployment increased a tenth of a percent, from 3.1 percent in April to 3.2 percent last month. According to labor statistics compiled by the ODJFS, in conjunction with the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the county’s workforce increased an estimated 200 people, from 14,700 two months ago to 14,900 in May. The number of people employed also increased from 14,200 in April to 14,400 last month, while those unemployed stayed the same at 500.

Overall, Van Wert County was among the 10 counties with the lowest unemployment in Ohio, according to the ODJFS.

Mercer County again led the state in unemployment at 2.5 percent, up two-tenths of a percent from April’s 2.3 percent. Putnam County, the only neighboring county whose jobless rate went down in May, was third in the state at 2.9 percent, down from 3.0 percent in April, while Auglaize County fifth among Ohio’s 88 counties at 3.0 percent, up two-tenths of a percent from April’s 2.8 percent unemployment rate. Behind Van Wert County were Paulding County at 3.7 percent, up two-tenths of a percent, and Allen County, which saw its jobless rate increase a tenth of a percent, from 4.0 percent to 4.1 percent.

Statewide, five counties had unemployment rates at or below 3.0 percent. In addition to Mercer, Putnam, and Auglaize counties, Holmes and Wyandot counties had unemployment rates of 2.9 percent in May.

Eight counties had unemployment rates at or above 5.5 percent last month.

They include Monroe County, which had the highest jobless rate for the month at 6.5 percent; Meigs County, 6.2 percent; Scioto County, 5.8 percent; Coshocton and Jackson counties, 5.6 percent; and Jefferson, Noble, and Pike counties, 5.5 percent.

The comparable unemployment rate for Ohio was 4.2 percent in May.