This graphic shows how high or low the unemployment rate is in all 88 counties in Ohio. The lighter-colored counties have lower unemployment rates while darker-colored counties have higher unemployment rates.
Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services
The unemployment rate in Highland County rose in October to 4.0 percent, according to figures released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).
The ODJFS said the labor force in Highland County has 17,500 workers, with 16,800 members of the force employed and 700 unemployed. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted.
Of the 88 counties in Ohio, Highland County is ranked 26th in terms of the highest unemployment rate in the state, tied with six 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 2.5 percent in Geauga, Holmes and Mercer counties to a high of 5.4 percent in Lucas County.
The state had 13 counties at or below 3.0 percent unemployment in October: Geauga, Holmes and Mercer counties at 2.5 percent; Medina and Putnam counties at 2.6 percent; Lake County at 2.7 percent; Auglaize and Wayne counties at 2.8 percent; Union and Van Wert counties at 2.9 percent; and Delaware, Logan and Madison counties at 3.0 percent.
The state had six counties at or above 4.5 percent unemployment in October: Lucas County at 5.4 percent, Jefferson County at 5.2 percent, Noble County at 4.7 percent, Henry and Monroe counties at 4.6 percent and Meigs County at 4.5 percent.
According to ODJFS, unemployment increased in 74 counties, decreased in six counties and didn’t change in eight counties in Ohio in October.
Of the six counties contiguous to Highland County, Ross County had 3.2 percent unemployment in October, Fayette County had 3.4 percent, Brown County had 3.7 percent, Clinton County had 3.9 percent, Adams County had 4.2 percent and Pike County had 4.3 percent.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
