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Ohio's unemployment rate up to 5.2 percent: 5 things you need to know

Ohio hasn't recovered its recession job losses
Ohio's unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in April, up slightly from the month before. (Associated Press file photo)
Olivera Perkins, The Plain Dealer By Olivera Perkins, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer
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on May 22, 2015 at 2:25 PM, updated May 22, 2015 at 4:11 PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio's unemployment rate was up slightly to 5.2 percent in April, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported Friday.

The jobless rate in March was 5.1 percent. However, despite a higher employment rate in April, the state gained 6,400 jobs.

The state also said Friday that Ohio gained 2,200 jobs in March, instead of the 1,500 that had initially been reported. Revisions are routinely made as more information becomes available.

"Ohio mirrored the nation in seeing a jobs rebound in April," wrote Zach Schiller, research director of Policy Matters Ohio, which tracks the state's labor market, in an email. "However, we need more robust gains in jobs to employ all the Ohioans who need work and even reach the average national growth rate."  

The U.S. unemployment rate, released two weeks ago, was 5.4 percent. The nation gained 223,000 jobs.

Despite Ohio having a lower unemployment rate, the state's job growth rate lags that of the nation.

"Ohio's job growth rate between April 2014 and April 2015 was 1.25 percent," said George Zeller of Cleveland, an economic research analyst. "The growth rate for the United States was 2.23 percent. That is the 30th month in a row when Ohio's job growth has been below the national average."

Here are five things you need to know about Ohio's 5.2 percent unemployment rate:

1. Job gains were not evenly distributed across all employment sectors. The sectors gaining employment included: manufacturing, up by 5,200 jobs; professional and business services, up by 4,700 and (private) educational and health services, up by 2,700.

The sectors losing employment included: local government, down by 3,200 jobs; trade, transportation, and utilities, down 1,800 and leisure and hospitality, down 1,300.

2. Ohio's unemployment rate went up even though the state gained more jobs in April than it had in March

The monthly jobs reports reflect two surveys. One is a national household survey, on which the 5.2 percent unemployment rate was calculated. People are asked whether they are working or actively seeking work. To be counted as unemployed, a person must be both jobless and actively seeking work. The 6,400 jobs number came from a sampling of Ohio employers.

The household survey shows that while employment fell by 7,000 between March and April, the number of unemployed only went up by 3,000.

"Where did the other 4,000 go?" said Veronica Kalich, who chairs the economics department at Baldwin Wallace University. "That number reflects how many people dropped out of the labor force."

People drop out of the labor force for a variety of reasons, ranging from returning to school, caring for family members or relocation out of the state. Often they drop out because they believe they won't be able to find employment.

3. Ohio's labor force shrank in April.

"It is up since a year ago, but since a month ago it is down," Kalich said.

She said in April 2014, Ohio's labor force was 5,715,000. A year later, it was 5,749,000. In March 2015, the labor force was 5,753,000. These numbers come from the household survey.

Policy Matter's Schiller said Ohio's labor force is down by 225,000 from the start of the recession. The recession officially began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009.

"That trend needs to improve if we are to have a healthy Ohio labor market," he said.  

Most recently an improving trend was seen. Schiller said Ohio's labor force had grown between December 2014 and March.

4. A higher percentage of Ohioans are participating in the labor force compared to the nation.

The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the working age population in the labor force. This includes the employed as well as those looking for work. Ohio's labor force participation rate for April was 63 percent, Kalich said. The nation's labor force participation rate was 62.8 percent.

That is the sort-of good news about labor force participation in Ohio. Now for the sort-of bad news. April's labor force participation rate actually fell from March, when it was 63.1 percent.

"It doesn't look like a lot, but it is going in the wrong direction in that it is down," she said.

5. Ohio has yet to recover all the jobs the state has lost since the recession.

"There is a very large loss of 45,000 jobs that have not yet been recovered," said Zeller. "This is an unrecovered loss of 0.8 percent of Ohio's jobs."