County jobless rate drops

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The unemployment rate in Highland County fell in November to 4.4 percent, a fall of 0.3 percent from the previous month, according to figures released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).

The ODJFS said the labor force in Highland County has 17,600 workers, with 16,800 members of the force employed and 800 unemployed. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted.

Of the 88 counties in Ohio, Highland County is ranked seventh in terms of the highest unemployment rate in the state, tied with two other counties.

Seasonal adjustment, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is a “statistical technique that attempts to measure and remove the influences of predictable seasonal patterns to reveal how employment and unemployment change from month to month.”

It considers the changes in labor market activity because of seasonal events like weather, harvests and major holidays. Because the seasonal events are mostly the same every year, the change in the trends can be eliminated by seasonally adjusting the statistics from month to month. The adjustments allow people to see the underlying trends and other nonseasonal movements, ODJFS said.

The county unemployment rates in Ohio ranged from a low of 2.0 percent in Mercer and Wyandot counties to a high of 5.2 percent in Monroe County.

The state had 11 counties at or below 2.5 percent unemployment in November: Mercer and Wyandot counties at 2.0 percent, Putnam and Union counties at 2.2 percent, Auglaize, Van Wert and Wayne counties at 2.3 percent, Delaware and Hancock counties at 2.4 percent and Madison and Preble counties at 2.5 percent.

The state had five counties at or above 4.5 percent unemployment in November: Monroe County at 5.2 percent, Ottawa County at 5.1 percent, Noble County at 5.0 percent, Cuyahoga County at 4.6 percent and Meigs County at 4.5 percent.

According to ODJFS, unemployment decreased in 87 counties in Ohio in November and increased in one.

Of the six counties contiguous to Highland County, Fayette County had 2.9 percent unemployment in November, Ross County had 3.0 percent, Brown County had 3.5 percent, Clinton County had 3.5 percent, Pike County had 4.2 percent and Adams County had 4.4 percent.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.

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