The unemployment rates for May released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) were mixed.

Thursday, June 21, 2001

The unemployment rates for May released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) were mixed.

Unemployment rates in Lawrence County in May increased 0.1 percent from April. However, the rate for May, 4.8 percent, is slightly more than half that of May 2000.

Of the 26,800 residents in the county in May, 1,300 were unemployed.

For the entire state, unemployment also increased 0.1 percent between April and May, based on seasonally adjusted figures. In that time, the working age population of the state increased by 1,000 individuals.

The U.S. unemployment rate decreased by 0.1 percentage point to 4.4 percent in May.

"The job market remained steady in May, with only modest fluctuations in employment across industries," Greg Moody, ODJFS interim director, said. "Changes in service sector employment are largely related to normal seasonal factors, particularly the end of the school year. Manufacturing changed little over the month but the job market remains weak in this sector, given the economic slowdown since last November."

Delaware County had the lowest level of unemployment at 1.6 percent and the highest was 14.5 percent in Morgan County.

In other southern Ohio counties, results varied. In Vinton, Pike, Meigs, Jackson and Scioto counties, unemployment rates were among the highest in the state. Clinton County had the fourth lowest rate in the state at 2.2. Gallia County’s unemployment rate, 4.9, was only 0.5 percent higher than the state average.