(The Center Square) – Ohio’s unemployment increase over the past year is one of the highest in the nation.
Based on the new figures released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the state’s unemployment rate has jumped 0.9% since April 2024 and increased for the fifth consecutive month last month.
Ohio’s jobless rate rose to 4.9% in April, up from 4.8% in March and well above the national 4.2% rate. Last April, the state unemployment rate stood at 4%.
All that comes as the labor force participation rate grew to 62.7% from 62.6% and the number of new private-sector jobs increased by 20,900.
“Though there appeared to be strong job growth between March and April, there are reasons to remain cautious,” Policy Matters Researcher Heather Smith said. “Benchmarked data showed consistent overestimates in the past year, and the number of unemployed Ohioans has been growing the last five months, as increases in the labor force are not being absorbed by the labor market. Layoffs of federal employees will only add to the unemployment in the state.”
Reports have surfaced that 400 federal occupational safety workers in Ohio are set to be eliminated at some point this summer.
However, some analysts believe that consistent job growth numbers show that employers are preparing to make more hires.
“With April’s report, Ohio’s private sector employment is averaging 15,000 new jobs a month, indicating that businesses intend to hire at a strong clip in 2025,” Rea S. Hederman Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center and vice president of policy at The Buckeye Institute, said.
Smith, though, remains concerned with the numbers, saying job creation is not outpacing job losses.
The civilian labor force has increased at about the same rate as the number of unemployed workers, suggesting that while more Ohioans are entering the job market, they are not all securing employment.
“This raises questions around the reported increases in jobs across service-providing industries – why aren’t Ohioans getting hired? All monthly data is preliminary, and it is not uncommon for the separate surveys to report divergent pictures of the Ohio economy, particularly on a month-to-month basis, but the unemployment situation is a trend to watch,” Smith said.
