This graphic shows how high or low the unemployment rate is in all 88 counties in Ohio. The lighter-colored counties have lower unemployment rates while darker-colored counties have higher unemployment rates.
ODJFS graphic
The unemployment rate in Highland County climbed in October to 4.7 percent, a rise of 0.4 percent from the previous month, according to 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 19th 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 2.8 percent in Holmes and Wyandot counties to a high of 6.1 percent in Monroe County.
The state had four counties at or below 3.0 percent unemployment in October: Holmes and Wyandot counties at 2.8 percent and Mercer and Putnam counties at 2.9 percent.
The state had seven counties at or above 5.0 percent unemployment in October: Monroe County at 6.1 percent, Noble County at 5.6 percent, Jefferson and Meigs counties at 5.5 percent, Cuyahoga County at 5.4 percent and Adams and Harrison counties at 5.0 percent.
According to ODJFS, unemployment increased in 84 counties in Ohio in October, decreased in two and didn’t change in the two others.
Of the six counties contiguous to Highland County, Ross County had 3.7 percent unemployment in October, Fayette County had 3.8 percent, Brown County had 4.4 percent, Clinton County had 4.4 percent, Pike County had 4.9 percent and Adams County had 5.0 percent.
Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.
