LIMA — Unemployment dropped in all area counties. Allen County at 4.1% and Hardin County at 4.o% are the only two counties in the area to match or exceed the state unemployment rate of 4.0%
Mercer County still has the lowest rate in the nine-county region at 2.7%. Putnam County’s rate is 2.8%. The remaining counties in the area are all below 3.5%. Logan County is at 3.4%, Shelby County is at 3.3%, Van Wert and Auglaize Counties are at 3.1% and Hancock County is at 3.0%
Unemployment rates were lower in September in 11 states and the District of Columbia, higher in 9 states, and stable in 30 states, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Forty-six states and the District of Columbia had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier and four states had little change.
The national unemployment rate edged down to 3.5 percent over the month and was 1.2 percentage points lower than in September 2021.
Minnesota had the lowest jobless rate in September, 2.0 percent. The next lowest rates were in Utah and Vermont, 2.1 percent each. The rates in Alaska (4.4 percent), Louisiana (3.4 percent), and Missouri (2.4 percent) set new lows.
The District of Columbia had the highest unemployment rate, 4.7 percent, followed by Illinois, 4.5 percent. In total, 17 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. figure of 3.5 percent, 8 states and the District had higher rates, and 25 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.
Ohio’s rate in September of 2021 was 4.7%. In September of 2022, it dropped .7 % to 4.0%. For the year Ohio has increased employment by 93,000 or 1.7%. A study by Wallet-Hub rates Ohio unemployment as the 14th worst in the country.
Most of the jobs nationwide were added in the fields of leisure and hospitality which added 83,000 jobs in September, in line with the average monthly job gain over the first 8 months of the year. Employment in food services and drinking places rose by 60,000 in September. Employment in leisure and hospitality is below its pre-pandemic February 2020 level by 1.1 million, or 6.7 percent.
In September, employment in health care rose by 60,000 and has returned to its February 2020 level. Over the month, ambulatory healthcare services and hospitals each added 28,000 jobs.
Manufacturing employment continued to trend up in September (+22,000). Job gains occurred in motor vehicles and parts (+8,000), fabricated metal products (+6,000), and electrical equipment and appliances (+3,000). Manufacturing has added an average of 36,000 jobs per month thus far in 2022. In September, employment in construction continued to trend up (+19,000), in line with average monthly job growth in the first 8 months of this year. Specialty trade contractors added 18,000 jobs in September. Employment in wholesale trade continued its upward trend in September (+11,000). Wholesale trade has added an average of 18,000 jobs per month thus far in 2022.
Reach Dean Brown at 567-242-0409
