First Posted: 1/27/2015
LIMA — In a somewhat surprising change, the unemployment rate has gone up in some local counties.
For months, the rate has been steadily, if slowly, decreasing, but from November to December several counties showed an increase in the number of people unemployed.
The number of unemployed people decreased in September, October and November compared with the months before, according to previous data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Experts mused the decrease in unemployment in October and November could be attributed to seasonal hiring in retail and food service, which would have ended in late December.
However, the December data show that unemployment is up 0.1 percentage points in Lima (to 5.1 percent), Allen County (4.5 percent), Hancock County (3.4 percent) and Hardin County (3.9 percent). It is up 0.2 percentage points in Putnam County (3.7) compared to November data, according to data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
On the contrary, rates in Mercer County (down to 2.6 percent) and Van Wert County (3.8 percent) decreased by the same amount, and Auglaize County’s rate has held steady at 3.1 percent.
The state rate has increased as well, from 4.5 percent in November to 4.7 percent last month. The national unemployment rate decreased from 5.5 percent to 5.4 percent.
