Unemployment high in northern Ohio

SANDUSKY — Erie County had one of the highest unemployment rates in the state in March, according to figures released Tuesday by state officials. In fact, northern Ohio generally had the highest unemployment rates in Ohio. Erie, Ottawa, Sandusky, Huron, Lorain and Cuyahoga counties were in the top seven counties for higher unemployment, among Ohio's 88 counties. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services figures released Tuesday showed Erie County with a March unemployment rate of 6.4%, ranking it sixth in the state. Sandusky County had an unemployment rate of 6.7%, while Huron County was listed at 6.5% and Ottawa County at 6.4%. Lorain County had the highest unemployment rate in Ohio at 7.9%, while Cuyahoga County was listed at 6.8%. The only county with a particularly high unemployment rate that's outside of northern Ohio was rural Monroe County in eastern Ohio, listed at 6.9%, the second-highest rate in Ohio. David White, the director of Firelands Forward, a group the seeks to drive local economic growth through labor force development, noted that the numbers released Tuesday are not seasonally adjusted. That means that the numbers tend to reflect the fact that employment in our area is highly seasonal and largely dependent on the tourism economy. Historically, for many years, unemployment locally tends to be high in the winter months, he noted. Even in Lorain and Huron counties, "there are still quite a few residents of those counties who commute to Erie County and Ottawa County for work," he said. Labor force participation numbers are not released monthly, so it will be interesting to see what they show when the next quarterly release comes out, White said. Across Ohio, county unemployment rates ranged from Lorain County's high of 7.9% to only 2.6% in Holmes County. Ohio's unemployment rate in March was 4.1%, down from 4.2% in February, and also an improvement over the 5.7% rate in March 2021. The U.S unemployment rate in March was 3.6%, down from 3.8% in February and 6.0% in March 2021. U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said the economy added 431,000 jobs in March. "With 7.9 million jobs added since President Biden took office and unemployment close to pre-pandemic levels, this strong job growth continues our historic, worker-centered recovery," Walsh said. Unfortunately, while the job situation in the U.S. has continued to improve, inflation has continued to go up, particularly for fuel costs and for food. According to a news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the consumer price index went up 1.2% in March, contributing to an inflation rate of 8.5% over the past 12 months. Increases for gasoline, shelter and food were the biggest contributors to the price jump, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. "The energy index rose 32% over the last year, and the food index increased 8.8%, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending May 1981," the news release states.