Ohio gained 12,000 jobs in May, while the state's unemployment rate remained at 5.2 percent, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said Friday.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio gained 12,000 jobs in May, while the state's unemployment rate remained at 5.2 percent, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said Friday.
The number of people with jobs increased from 5.395 million in April to 5.407 million in May.
While the unemployment rate remained steady, the number of people who were unemployed in Ohio increased by 5,000 last month to 302,000, up from 297,000 in April. That's a drop of by 26,000 in the past 12 months.
The news for Ohio is bad overall, said Cleveland economic research analyst George Zeller.
Ohio's job growth for May is once again below the national rate. Ohio's growth rate is 1.18 percent, compared with a year ago, Zeller said. The nation's growth rate is 2.24 percent.
PNC economist Kurt Rankin said it's also concerning that Ohio's job growth lags growth in Michigan and Indiana. "Those states are gaining jobs that Ohio is not," he said.
This marks the 31st consecutive month that Ohio has lagged the U.S. growth rate, Zeller said.
In addition, the gap between Ohio and the United States has broadened. The U.S. growth rate improved from April to May, while Ohio's growth rate slowed.
This means that Ohio has not yet recovered the jobs that it lost since
2007, stemming from the housing- and bank-driven collapse of 2008-09.
"Further," Zeller said, "Ohio has still not recovered the jobs that it previously lost since 2000 as a result of the 2000-2002 national recession."
Ohio has lost 33,000 jobs since 2007, he said, and 292,200 jobs since 2000. That's a loss of 4.1 percent of the state's jobs.
There are a few bright spots in Friday's report, Rankin said. The unemployment rate has improved from a year ago, when it was 5.7 percent.
It's important that the unemployment rate has remained steady the last few months, he said. Normally, when people are feeling more confident in the economy and more people are looking for jobs -- as they are now -- you'd expect to see an increase in the unemployment rate. But the rate isn't increasing because many people are finding jobs quickly.
It's also notable that Ohio is gaining jobs even though many companies are trying to run lean, Rankin said. "Businesses that survived the recession have become more efficient," he said. "Those same businesses don't need to hire more workers."
Ohio's unemployment rate remains slightly better than the nation's, which was 5.5 percent, up from 5.4 percent in April but down from 6.3 percent in May 2014.
In specific industries, manufacturing gained 1,500 jobs and construction gained 600.
Professional and business services added 6,300 jobs and trade, transportation and utilities gained 4,000. Other services posted a gain of 2,400, educational and health services added 1,000 and financial activities added 500.
Losing jobs were mining and logging (200 jobs), leisure and hospitality (2,400), and information (400). Government employment dropped by 1,300 to 755,900. Local government offices lost 2,400 jobs and federal offices lost 500. State government added 1,600.
During the last year, Ohio added 76,700 jobs. The biggest growth has been in manufacturing; leisure and hospitality; trade, transportation and utilities; educational and health services, professional and business services and financial activities.
Unemployment rates for cities and counties in Ohio will be released by the state on Tuesday.