The unemployment rate in Highland County rose in September to 5.5 percent, a climb of 0.1 percent from the previous month, according to new figures released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).
Of the 88 counties in Ohio, Highland County is ranked 20th in terms of the highest unemployment rate in the state, tied with two other counties.
The ODJFS said the labor force in Highland County has 17,600 workers, with 16,600 members of the force employed and 1,000 unemployed. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted.
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,the ODJFS said.
Overall, the Ohio unemployment rate went unchanged in September, staying at 5.4 percent.
The county unemployment rates in Ohio range from a low of 2.6 percent in Holmes County to a high of 7.7 percent in Pike County.
The state had 10 counties at or below 3.5 percent unemployment in September — Holmes County at 2.6 percent, Geauga County at 3.0 percent, Mercer County at 3.1 percent, Medina, Putnam and Union counties at 3.3 percent, Delaware and Wayne counties at 3.4 percent and Madison and Wyandot counties at 3.5 percent.
The state had four counties at or above 6.5 percent unemployment in September: Pike County at 7.7 percent, Vinton County at 7.0 percent, Jackson County at 6.9 percent and Ross County 6.6 percent.
According to ODJFS, 82 counties had their unemployment rate decrease and six counties saw increases in September.
Of the six counties contiguous to Highland County: Fayette County had 4.7 percent unemployment, Brown County had 5.0 percent, Clinton County had 5.1 percent, Adams County had 6.0 percent, Ross County had 6.6 percent and Pike County had 7.7 percent.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
