OHIO VALLEY — Meigs and Gallia counties are currently ranked 84th and 59th out of 88 counties, respectively, when it comes to unemployment rates in Ohio from February.

The latest numbers from February 2022 were recently released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Meigs County was ranked 84th with 7.3% unemployment, down form 7.5% in January 2022. Gallia County was 59th with 5.5% unemployment, down from 5.6% in January 2022.

The county with the lowest unemployment was Holmes County with 2.9%. Monroe County, ranked 88th out of 88 counties, had the highest rate of unemployment with 8.3%.

Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.2% in February 2022, down from 4.3% in January 2022. Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 6,700 over the month, from a revised 5,432,700 in January to 5,439,400 in February 2022.

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in February was 242,000, down from 246,000 in January. The number of unemployed has decreased by 91,000 in the past 12 months from 333,000. The February unemployment rate for Ohio decreased from 5.8% in February 2021. The U.S. unemployment rate for February 2022 was 3.8%, down from 4.0% in January 2022, and down from 6.2% in February 2021.

In February 2022, the labor force participation rate in Ohio was 61.5%, unchanged from January 2022 and up from 61.3% in February 2021. During the same period, the national labor force participation rate was 62.3%, up from 62.2% in January 2022 and up from 61.5% in February 2021.

Total Nonagricultural Wage and Salary Employment

Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 6,700 over the month, from a revised 5,432,700 in January to 5,439,400 in February, according to the latest business establishment survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics) in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS).

Employment in goods-producing industries, at 917,100, decreased 3,500 over the month with losses in construction (-2,800) and manufacturing (-700). Mining and logging did not change over the month. The private service-providing sector, at 3,775,500, increased 10,400 as gains in professional and business services (+4,900); trade, transportation, and utilities (+2,700); educational and health services (+1,100); leisure and hospitality (+1,000); information (+800); and other services (+400) outpaced losses in financial activities (-500). Government employment, at 746,800, decreased 200 with losses in federal (-100) and state (-100) government. Local government employment did not change over the month.

From February 2021 to February 2022, nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 103,200. Employment in goods-producing industries increased 26,700. Manufacturing added 12,100 jobs in durable goods (+8,200) and nondurable goods (+3,900). Construction added 14,500 jobs while mining and logging employment added 100 jobs. Employment in the private service-providing sector increased 80,600 as gains in leisure and hospitality (+42,100); trade, transportation, and utilities (+22,400); professional and business services (+15,100); other services (+7,300); financial activities (+3,400); and information (+3,300) surpassed losses in educational and health services (-13,000). Government employment decreased 4,100 as losses in state government (-6,000) exceeded gains in local government (+1,900). Federal government employment did not change over the year.

Information provided by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.