The unemployment rate in Highland County fell in February to 5.6 percent, a fall of 0.4 percent from the previous month, according to figures released this week by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).
The ODJFS said the labor force in Highland County has 17,600 workers, with 16,600 members of the force employed and 1,000 unemployed. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted.
Of the 88 counties in Ohio, Highland County is ranked 26th in terms of the highest unemployment rate in the state, tied with three 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 2.9 percent in Holmes County to a high of 8.3 percent in Monroe County.
The state had five counties at or below 3.5 percent unemployment in February: Holmes County at 2.9 percent, Delaware and Mercer counties at 3.0 percent, Union County at 3.2 percent and Wayne County at 3.5 percent.
The state had eight counties at or above 7.0 percent unemployment in February: Monroe County at 8.3 percent, Morgan County at 7.7 percent, Noble County at 7.6 percent, Ottawa County at 7.4 percent, Huron and Meigs counties at 7.3 percent and Erie and Lorain counties at 7.0 percent.
According to ODJFS, unemployment decreased in 52 counties, increased in 17 and didn’t show any change in 19 counties in February.
Of the six counties contiguous to Highland County, Fayette County had 4.4 percent unemployment in February, Ross County had 4.7 percent, Clinton County had 5.0 percent, Brown County had 5.6 percent, Pike County had 6.4 percent and Adams County had 6.9 percent.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
