The unemployment rate in Highland County rose in April to 5.2 percent, a rise of 0.2 percent from the month before, according to new figures released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).
ODJFS said the labor force in the county is 17,100 with 16,200 members of the force employed and 900 unemployed. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted.
Of the 88 counties in Ohio, Highland County is the 32nd-ranked county in terms of the highest unemployment rate in the state, tied with five 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.
Overall, the Ohio unemployment rate did not change from the 4.7 percent it was in March.
The county unemployment rates in Ohio range from a low of 2.2 percent in Holmes County to a high of 6.9 percent in Erie County.
The state had four counties at or below 3.0 percent unemployment in April: Holmes County at 2.2 percent, Mercer County at 2.6 percent, Geauga County at 2.8 percent and Wayne County at 3.0 percent.
It also had six counties at or above 6.5 percent unemployment in April: Erie County at 6.9 percent, Mahoning County at 6.8 percent, Monroe and Trumbull counties at 6.7 percent and Allen and Noble counties at 6.5 percent.
According to ODJFS, in April, 43 counties had their unemployment decrease, 32 counties increased and 13 counties had no change.
Of the six counties that border Highland County: Ross County had 4.3 percent unemployment, Fayette County had 4.3 percent, Clinton County had 4.8 percent, Brown County had 4.8 percent, Pike County had 5.6 percent and Adams County has 5.8 percent.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
