CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohio’s unemployment rate dipped to 8.4% in September, continuing a trend down, though it remains more than double what it was a year ago, according to new estimates released Friday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Ohio’s unemployment rate was 8.9% in August and 9% in July after a spring of historic highs during the height of coronavirus-related shutdowns. A year ago, however, Ohio’s unemployment rate stood at 4.1%.
The state unemployment rate hovered just above 4% for several months until the coronavirus hit in the spring, shooting up to 17.6% in April, and then coming in at 13.9% in May and 11% for June.
The April rate of 17.6% was higher than at any point in published state records by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics going back 1976. The previous high of 14% occurred in both December 1982 and January 1983.
Ohio had an estimated 5,188,200 jobs in September, up 41,500 from a revised August estimate of 5,146,700.
In September 2019, Ohio had 5,591,900 jobs, or an estimated 403,700 more than in September of this year.
The jobs estimate includes any part-time or full-time job in Ohio based on employer payroll information.
The state unemployment rate is largely determined by a federal survey in which people are asked if they are working or looking for work. The unemployment rates routinely are adjusted after the initial announcements, based on more complete data.
