The Buckeye Institute: Ohio’s Job Market Continues its Steady Climb
May 18, 2018Columbus, OH – Andrew J. Kidd, Ph.D., an economist with The Buckeye Institute’s Economic Research Center, commented on newly released employment data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
“Ohio continues to experience steady improvement in its labor market with unemployment falling to 4.3 percent, and significant job growth relative to April 2017 when the unemployment rate was 5.1 percent. This, coupled with the rise in labor force participation, means Ohio’s labor market is growing and those seeking jobs are finding them. This is good news for Ohioans and good news for Ohio’s economy.
“Although Ohio has yet to reach the national unemployment rate of 3.9 percent, we are on the right track. While the national labor force participation rate fell, Ohio’s actually grew. This means Ohio fared better than most states in maintaining a strong labor force. Although Ohio is moving in the right direction, policymakers need to ensure obstacles, such as special tax credits to benefit specific businesses, are not put in place that would harm this growth.
“While this month’s growth was slower than previous months, Ohio’s unemployment rate has held steady or fallen every month since October 2016, and we should not lose sight of the fact that relative to 2017, Ohio’s job market is much stronger and continuing pro-growth policies will help both Ohio businesses and Ohio workers.”
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