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 fell in November to 3.6 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 17,600 workers, with 16,900 members of the force employed and 600 unemployed. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted.
Of the 88 counties in Ohio, Highland County is ranked 21st 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 1.9 percent in Mercer County to a high of 4.9 percent in Ottawa County.
The state had 15 counties at or below 2.5 percent unemployment in November: Mercer County at 1.9 percent; Holmes, Putnam and Wyandot counties at 2.1 percent; Geauga County at 2.2 percent; Auglaize, Lake and Medina counties at 2.3 percent; Hancock, Van Wert and Wayne counties at 2.4 percent; and Darke, Delaware, Logan and Madison at 2.5 percent.
The state had four counties at or above 4.5 percent unemployment in November: Ottawa County at 4.9 percent; Jefferson and Meigs counties at 4.7 percent; and Monroe County at 4.5 percent.
According to ODJFS, unemployment decreased in 86 counties and increased in two counties in Ohio in November.
Of the six counties contiguous to Highland County, Ross County had 2.8 percent unemployment in November, Fayette County had 2.8 percent, Brown County had 3.4 percent, Clinton County had 3.4 percent, Pike County had 3.9 percent and Adams County had 4.0 percent.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
