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Ohio's Jobless Rate Falls To Lowest Level In 16 Years, But Job Growth Rate Still Lags Nation's

Karen Kasler

Ohio’s unemployment rate has dropped again, to a level not seen in 16 years.

The state’s jobless rate for April dropped to 4.3 percent, which is the lowest level since July 2001, when it was a tenth of a point lower. That edges the state closer to the national employment rate of 3.9 percent. Northeast Ohio economist George Zeller says the latest numbers show more job growth in Ohio in the first four months of this year than in all of 2017, which was the weakest job growth year since the Great Recession. But he says one thing hasn’t changed – that the state’s job growth rate is still below the national level, which has been going on for more than five years.  And he’s very concerned about May’s numbers, which will reflect mass layoffs planned at the General Motors assembly plant in Lordstown.

Contact Karen at 614-578-6375 or at kkasler@statehousenews.org.
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