There's one work that sums up Ohio's economy right now, says Amy Hanauer with the progressive think tank Policy Matters Ohio. That word is "stuck".
"We are stuck with high rates of unemployment. We are stuck with very low rates of job creation and we are stuck with low wages in Ohio," says Hanauer.
But at least one conservative economist who also follows Ohio's labor market says this report paints an unfairly dismal picture.
"Workers aren't booming these days because economic growth is not booming these days. We have had a national growth slowdown of which Ohio is sharing in," says Richard Vedder, a distinguished professor of economics at Ohio University.
Hanauer says the state can do more to spur the economy by investing in education from preschool until retirement.
Vedder says he thinks the state to allow the market economy to work He also uses one word: "relax".
(Story by OPR's Karen Kasler)