The unemployment rate in Highland County fell in November to 4.1 percent, a drop of 0.4 percent from the previous 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 17,400 workers, with 16,700 members of the force employed and 700 unemployed. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted.
Of the 88 counties in Ohio, Highland County is ranked 24th in terms of the highest unemployment rate in the state, tied with four 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 fell by 0.3 percent in November to 4.8 percent.
The county unemployment rates in Ohio ranged from a low of 2.0 percent in Holmes County to a high of 5.7 percent in Monroe County.
The state had eight counties at or below 2.5 percent unemployment in November: Holmes County at 2.0 percent, Putnam County at 2.1 percent, Mercer County at 2.2 percent, Delaware and Union counties at 2.4 percent and Auglaize, Geauga and Madison counties at 2.5 percent.
The state had five counties at or above 5.0 percent unemployment in November: Monroe County at 5.7 percent, Erie and Ottawa counties at 5.5 percent, Noble County at 5.4 percent and Pike County at 5.0 percent.
According to ODJFS, unemployment decreased in 78 counties, increased in seven counties and didn’t change in three counties in November.
Of the six counties contiguous to Highland County: Fayette County had 3.2 percent unemployment, Ross County had 3.6 percent, Clinton County had 3.7 percent, Brown County had 3.8 percent, Adams County had 4.4 percent and Pike County had 5.0 percent.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
