Area unemployment rises

Job seekers attend a recent Job Fair at Owens Community College.

Unemployment in Toledo, Lucas County, and the remaining 87 counties in Ohio rose in January from the previous month, but the overall jobless rate in Ohio actually declined when the numbers were adjusted to exclude temporary workers laid off after the holiday season, according to a monthly report by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

In the state’s county-by-county estimates, which are not seasonally adjusted, unemployment rose in Lucas County by 1 percentage point to 9.4 percent in January from 8.4 in December. The total number of unemployed was 19,500, the state said. A year ago the unemployment rate for January was 9 percent.

In Toledo, the January rate was 10 percent, up from 9 percent in December, with total unemployed at 13,000. In January, 2011 the rate was 11.6 percent.

In northwest Ohio, the highest county jobless rate was 15 percent in Ottawa County, up from 12.8 percent in December.

Overall in Ohio, unemployment decreased in January to 7.7 percent from 7.9 percent in December when seasonally adjusted to exclude temporary employment. A year ago the jobless rate was 9 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 8.3 percent in January from 8.5 percent in December. A year ago it was 9.1 percent.

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