Ohio ended 2011 with an average annual jobless rate of 8.8 percent, the lowest since 2008.
The state’s jobless rate in December fell to 8.1 percent, which was below the U.S. average for the month and down from 8.5 percent in November and 9 percent in October. The rate a year ago was 9.5 percent.
The U.S. unemployment rate in December fell to 8.5 percent from 8.7 percent in November.
But while there is growing demand in Ohio for jobs, particularly in “high skill” areas, according to private industry sources, there was little to cheer about in the state jobs report released Friday.
“The decline in the unemployment rate was not at all good news,” said George Zeller, research analyst in Cleveland who studies the Ohio and national economy. “I think what you had was a uniformly bad and disappointing report for the state of Ohio.”
20,000 drop out
That’s because the decline in the unemployment rate the last three months of the year was caused by people dropping out and no longer being counted as unemployed, not because jobs were created, Zeller said. More than 20,000 people dropped out of the Ohio work force in December alone, he said.
“It had nothing to do with job growth. We didn’t have any,” Zeller said. “This is a nationwide thing.”
The state figures show Ohio lost 3,300 jobs last month, going from 5,109,900 in November to 5,106,600 in December, based on what is called the business establishment survey.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported that the number of unemployed people fell from 496,000 in November to 469,000 in December.
The state said jobs in goods-producing industries fell 2,100 to 819,400. Construction jobs fell by 2,600; mining and logging dropped by 100; and manufacturing jobs rose by 600.
Jobs in service industries fell by 1,200 to 4,287,200. Professional and business services jobs fell by 4,700; financial jobs dropped by 1,600; trade, transportation and utilities, and leisure and hospitality jobs fell by 400 each. Government added 3,100 jobs, while educational and health services jobs increased by 2,100 and other services added 700 jobs.
Ohio had an average unemployment rate of 10.1 percent in 2010 and in 2009; the average rate in 2008 was 6.6 percent. In 2001, the Ohio average rate was 4.4 percent.
Some skills in demand
Lisa Morgan, metro market manager in the Akron office of global staffing agency Robert Half International, said there is growing demand locally for the type of highly skilled workers that her office specializes in.
“We’ve seen an increase in demand,” she said. Companies that cut employment deeply during the recession but now are growing have no choice but to add staff, she said.
The Akron area’s manufacturers are looking for people with backgrounds in such areas as accounting and financial analysis, she said. There also is a significant increase in demand for customer service call center jobs, she said.
“Companies are also looking for soft skills,” Morgan said. By that, companies are seeking people with strong communication and leadership skills, she said.
“For the highly skilled positions, hot skill sets are getting multiple offers for jobs,” Morgan said.
While there are signs of increased jobs demand in some areas, Ohio overall has seen “a gigantic increase in long-term unemployed,” Zeller said.
The large number of people dropping out of the work force is what is causing the state and national unemployment rates to drop, he said.
Even so, preliminary figures show that Ohio ended 2011 with more people working than at the end of 2010, he said. The state’s seasonally adjusted figures showed 5,340,000 people were working at the end of December compared with 5,334,000 at the end of 2010.
The state’s employment figures will be revised in upcoming months and should eliminate apparent contradictions in the current figures, Zeller said. The changes also probably will show a sharp increase in unemployment during 2011, he said.
A new state report, Profile of Unemployment: A Post-Recession Analysis, said Ohio lost 332,700 jobs from January 2008 to April 2011, with more than 250,000 people in 2010 out of work more than 26 weeks. A large number of long-term unemployed people became so-called discouraged workers who stop looking for work, the report showed.
People said they stopped looking for work because they:
• Couldn’t find work, 26.6 percent.
• Believed there was no work available in their field, 23.1 percent;
• Entered school or other training, 20.5 percent;
• Had family responsibilities, 15.4 percent;
• Lacked necessary schooling or training, 6.2 percent.
Once people drop out of the work force and stop earning money, “that’s human suffering,” Zeller said.
In 2011, the state was showing slow job growth until the last quarter of the year, Zeller said.
“Then all of a sudden we’re not getting a slow recovery, we’re not getting a recovery at all,” he said. “The culprit is the very long duration of unemployment. People give up. This is a big problem. This is why the economy is slow.”
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.
