Dec. jobless rates fall in Toledo, Lucas Co.

1/28/2014
BY TYREL LINKHORN
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER
  • Census-Signs-of-Recovery-2

    FILE - In this June 13, 2012, file photo, a job seeker talks to a recruiter at a job fair expo in Anaheim, Calif. The U.S. economy is showing signs of finally bottoming out: Americans are on the move again after record numbers had stayed put, more young adults are leaving their parents' homes to take a chance with college or the job market, once-sharp declines in births are leveling off and poverty is slowing. Not all is well. The jobless rate remains high at 8.1 percent. Home ownership dropped for a fifth straight year to 64.6 percent, the lowest in more than a decade, hurt by more stringent financing rules and a shift to renting. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

    AP


    • The jobless rates for Toledo and Lucas County each dropped more than half a percentage point from November to December, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

    According to the state, Lucas County’s December unemployment rate was 7.4 percent. The county was at 8 percent in November. The rate within the city of Toledo fell even more, dropping from 8.6 percent in November to 7.9 percent in December.

    The city and county also both had lower unemployment rates in December, 2013, than they did in December, 2012. The rates for counties and cities are not seasonally adjusted, so officials warn against making too much out of month-to-month fluctuations, but say year-over-year comparisons can help show where the economy is trending.

    In December, 2012, Lucas County was at 7.5 percent. Toledo was at 8.1 in December, 2012.

    The state said Fulton County’s unemployment rate was at 7.3 percent in December, up from 7.2 percent in November but down from 7.6 percent a year earlier.

    In Ottawa County, where many jobs have seasonal tourism links, the December unemployment rate was 11.5 percent, up from 11.1 percent in November and 10.8 percent in December, 2012.

    Wood County’s unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent in December from 6.9 in November. A year earlier it was 6.1 percent.

    Statewide, jobless rates ranged from 3.8 percent in Mercer County, bordering Indiana, to 14.6 percent in Monroe County in the southeastern part of the state.