The Ohio economy continued to grow in November, creating nearly 18,000 new jobs and knocking the unemployment rate down to 5 percent.
View full sizeOhio's unemployment rate fell to 5 percent in November, below the national rate of 5.8 percent. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio's unemployment rate fell to 5 percent in November, lower than the national rate of 5.8 percent -- and the lowest rate in 13 years.
The state's estimated unemployment rate in November 2013 was 7.2 percent.
The Ohio Department of Job & Family Services on Friday said 5,329,200 people were working in November, reflecting 17,900 new, non-farm jobs, an estimate based on a business establishment survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor.
As expected, the estimated number of unemployed fell about 18,000 in November to 287,000. The number of people filing unemployment claims remained at 71,000.
"Today's report is good news for Ohioans, but we still have a lot of lost ground to make up," said Hannah Halbert, workforce researcher with Policy Matters Ohio. "Even with November's gain Ohio grew about half as fast as the nation over the past year."
November's job gain, following revised higher numbers for October, means Ohio's job growth rate over the last 12 months is just over 1 percent, Halbert said in a prepared analysis.
"Over the same time, the nation grew by 2.0 percent. That lag matters. The state still needs 89,000 jobs to reach our pre-recession job count," she said.
George Zeller, an independent economist based in Cleveland, also found Ohio job growth rate over the last year disappointing.
November 2014 was the 25th consecutive month when the Ohio job growth rate was below the U.S. national average, he wrote in a preliminary analysis. "That sub-par below average job growth streak now exceeds two full years by one additional month."
For the year, the total number of unemployed in the state has fallen by 130,000, the agency's report noted.
Other highlights:
Manufacturing grew by 4,400 jobs.
Leisure and hospitality,including restaurant employment, grew by 6,000 jobs.
Business services declined by 4,000 positions.
"The recovery of Ohio's economy is evident in the job gains over the past 12 months" commented Edward Hill, economics professor at Cleveland State University and dean of the Levin College of Urban Affairs.
"Over that time the state experienced a gain of 65,000 jobs. Manufacturing has led the recovery with 18,400 positions with business services industries adding 15,100 positions," he said.