COLUMBUS, Ohio—Ohio lost 11,500 jobs between November and December, newly released figures show, indicating the state is still struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
In December, 9,200 leisure and hospitality industry jobs were lost in the state compared to the month before, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Other economic sectors that saw employment declines last month include educational and health services (which lost 6,200 jobs), local government (5,600 jobs), professional and business services (1,000 jobs), and manufacturing (1,000 jobs).
Despite the job losses, Ohio’s unemployment rate fell from 5.7{c25493dcd731343503a084f08c3848bd69f9f2f05db01633325a3fd40d9cc7a1} in November to 5.5{c25493dcd731343503a084f08c3848bd69f9f2f05db01633325a3fd40d9cc7a1} in December, according to ODJFS statistics. Much of the reason for the drop was because many Ohioans took on seasonal holiday jobs, said ODJFS spokesman Tom Betti, though Betti didn’t have exact numbers on how many of those temporary jobs were filled.
George Zeller, a Cleveland-based economic research analyst, also said job figures, which come from a survey of employers, are generally more reliable than the state’s unemployment rate to gauge the health of the job market.
These latest job numbers, Zeller said, show that Ohio is still stuck in a recession.
“And the reason that we’re in a recession is one thing only: the pandemic,” he said.
Non-agricultural employment in Ohio was down 350,200 jobs in December 2020 compared to December of 2019, before cases of the virus ramped up in the state, ODJFS statistics show. During that year-long period, employment was down 125,400 leisure and hospitality jobs, 53,800 government jobs, 45,600 jobs in goods-producing industries, 40,400 jobs in professional and business services, and 31,900 manufacturing jobs, according to the department.
Unemployment in Ohio and elsewhere around the nation was highest during the initial months of the COVID-19 crisis last spring, as Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration shut down “non-essential” businesses (including bars and restaurants) and issued a “stay-at-home” order for several weeks starting in mid-March.
Jobless rates in Ohio hit 17.6{c25493dcd731343503a084f08c3848bd69f9f2f05db01633325a3fd40d9cc7a1} in April, 13.9{c25493dcd731343503a084f08c3848bd69f9f2f05db01633325a3fd40d9cc7a1} in May and 11{c25493dcd731343503a084f08c3848bd69f9f2f05db01633325a3fd40d9cc7a1} in June.
