The unemployment rate in Highland County fell in October to 4.5 percent, a fall of 1.0 percent from last month, according to new figures released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).
The ODJFS said the labor force in Highland County has 17,500 workers, with 16,700 members of the force employed and 800 unemployed. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted.
Of the 88 counties in Ohio, Highland County is ranked 20th in terms of the highest unemployment rate in the state, tied with one other county.
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 fell by 0.3 percent in October to 5.1 percent.
The county unemployment rates in Ohio ranged from a low of 2.4 percent in Holmes County to a high of 5.8 percent in Monroe County.
The state had 11 counties at or below 3.0 percent unemployment in October: Holmes County at 2.4 percent; Putnam County at 2.5 percent; Geauga County at 2.6 percent; Delaware, Medina, Mercer, Union and Wyandot counties at 2.8 percent; Madison County at 2.9 percent; and Lake and Wayne counties at 3.0 percent.
The state had seven counties at or above 5.0 percent unemployment in October: Monroe County at 5.8 percent, Noble County at 5.4 percent, Pike County at 5.2 percent, Jefferson County at 5.1 percent, and Clark, Meigs and Scioto counties at 5.0 percent.
According to ODJFS, unemployment decreased in 85 counties and increased in three counties in October.
Of the six counties contiguous to Highland County: Fayette County had 3.7 percent unemployment, Ross County had 4.0 percent, Brown County had 4.2 percent, Clinton County had 4.2 percent, Adams County had 4.9 percent and Pike County had 5.2 percent.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
