Unemployment in Ohio

Last week the Ohio Labor Market Information Bureau announced that the Ohio unemployment rate fell in August from 11.2 percent to 10.8 percent – its first decline since February 2006.  This seems as if it would be good news, especially because the U.S. rate rose from 9.4 percent to 9.7 percent after treading water for two months.  But this is an illustration of the complexities in interpreting the unemployment rate that I discussed here earlier.  Changes in the unemployment rate are affected both by changes in employment and by changes in the number of people actively seeking work.  At the national level, the number of people employed fell in June, July, and August.  The U.S. unemployment rate changed only marginally in June and July because a decline in the number of active job-seekers offset the decline in the number employed.  In August, U.S. employment declined but the number of those looking for work did not decline, so the unemployment rate rose.  Here in Ohio, employment fell somewhat last month but the number of job-seekers fell a lot, producing a decline in the unemployment rate despite the decline in the number of people working.