Ohio Unemployment Rate Dips in Dec. to 9.6%

Ohio's unemployment rate was 9.6% in December, down from 9.8% in November, according to data released Friday morning by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Ohio’s unemployment rate finished the year with its ninth consecutive decline in December as a drop in payroll was outpaced by a larger fall in job-seekers.The state Department of Job and Family Services said Friday that Ohio’s jobless rate hit a seasonally adjusted 9.6 percent in December.

That’s down from 9.8 percent in November and more than a percentage point below the 10.8 percent jobless rate seen a year ago.Over the month, nonfarm payroll dropped by more than 9,000 jobs to hit 5 million workers. The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in December was 567,000, down from 580,000 in November. The number of unemployed has decreased by 71,000 in the past 12 months from 638,000.

The December unemployment rate for Ohio was down from 10.8% in December 2009.That’s largely on a 7,300-job decline in Ohio’s goods-producing sector, which saw declines in construction and manufacturing. The much-larger service sector only lost 1,300 jobs over the month.Johnson tracks Ohio unemployment numbers at the Department of Job and Family Services. Its latest report shows that 13,000 Ohioans got off the unemployment rolls in December. But they leave behind 567,000 people who are still without a job.