ASHTABULA TOWNSHIP —
The unemployment rate in Ashtabula County fell to 8.3 percent in May.
That’s a decrease of .9 percent from the prior month’s 9.2 percent. The rate has been dropping since January, when it was 11.4 percent. The rates are not seasonally adjusted to account for spikes in employment due to seasonal employment trends, such as tourism hiring.
According to the data behind the rate, there were 900 more Ashtabula County residents working during May than there were in April 2012. Additionally, 500 persons fell out of the “unemployed” category. Those persons were not necessarily employed, however. They could have given up looking for work or saw the expiration of their benefits.
The civilian labor force in the county grew from 47,200 in April to 47,600 in May, which also helped bring down the rate.
The last time the unemployment rate was in this range was November 2008, when it was 8.5 percent. There were 44,500 residents employed at that time; in May, there were 43,700 residents employed.
State Rep. Casey Kozlowski, R-Pierpont, hailed the good news. He attributed the decrease to tourism-related jobs and the state legislature’s efforts to making Ohio a better place to do business.
“Also, there is a fair number of companies that announced expansions in the last several months and they are bringing those workers on board,” he said.
“Any time you add 900 jobs in one month is a pretty good sign of improvement,” said Brian Anderson, executive director of Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County.
He said some of the improvement is seasonal hiring, and some of it can be attributed to companies are hiring for the longer haul. He visited with 26 of the county’s employers in the past six weeks and all but one of them is “actively hiring.” He said the companies ranged in size from 15 to 20 employees to 300, and the positions from entry-level manufacturing to engineers.
“It’s across the board,” said Anderson, who is serving as a business service representative for the county. He said there are times, however, where the employers must still look outside the county for qualified persons to fill the openings.
Kozlowski said the better numbers indicate Ohio’s job-creation efforts are paying off.
“We are witnessing success through the work that the citizens of Ashtabula County, small business owners and myself have done through innovation and collaboration. This dynamic partnership has forged sustainable job growth that this county most desperately needs. We certainly have a great amount of work to do but we are making a great amount of progress that will move Ashtabula County forward,” Kozlowski said in a press release his office issued Tuesday.
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