OTTAWA — Putnam County has its lowest unemployment rate in more than 30 years, according to data released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services.
Putnam County had just 2.1% of its labor force looking for work, or 400 people. That’s the lowest recorded in ODJFS records dating back to 1990. The previous low was 2.4% in October 2020. It was also good enough to be the second-lowest unemployment rate in Ohio, behind Holmes County’s 2.0%.
That means of the 18,600 people in Putnam County’s labor force, 18,200 of them had work. In October, the rate was 2.5%. It’s a far cry since the pandemic-induced unemployment rate of 14.3% recorded in April 2020.
Unemployment rates were down in all area counties, with the rates below 4% throughout the region.
Allen County had 3.5% unemployment, down 0.7 percentage points from October’s 4.2%. It’s the lowest rate in Allen County since May 2019, when the rate was 3.2%. There were 1,700 people unemployed, the lowest number since it was 1,500 in May 2019.
There were 2,204 jobs listed within 10 miles of Lima on Tuesday afternoon, according to OhioMeansJobs.com’s job search.
Auglaize County also hit a recent low, at 2.5%, its lowest since hitting that same 2.5% in May 2019. Auglaize County tied for the sixth-lowest rate in the state with Geauga and Madison counties.
Mercer County had the third-lowest rate in Ohio, at 2.2% unemployment.
Statewide, the rate was 3.5%. The national average was 3.9%.
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