Ohio unemployment rate drops to 7.4%

5/18/2012

COLUMBUS — Ohio’s unemployment rate has dropped for the ninth month in a row.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said Friday that seasonally adjusted joblessness inched downward from 7.5 percent in March to 7.4 percent in April. The state’s non-farm payrolls shrunk by 3,400.

Nationally, the unemployment rate for April was 8.1 percent, down from 8.2 percent in March.

The number of unemployed Ohio workers decreased by 7,000, from 438,000 in March to 431,000 in April.

The state saw gains of about 2,900 jobs in government, 1,900 in professional and business services, and 1,500 in education and health services.

Manufacturing has been helping to drive recovery in Ohio, but that sector lost 1,400 jobs last month.