April’s jobless rate was 7 percent, down a tenth of a point from March. Ben Johnson with the Department of Job and Family Services says this continues the state’s steady economic recovery.
“The state added a large number of jobs in February," he says. "The state lost jobs in March. What we see in April is sort of a return to what we had been seeing over the previous couple of years, which is slow improvement.”
Johnson says the summer hiring season has started at hotels, amusement parks and golf courses, and job numbers fell off in tax preparation and accounting services. The state’s unemployment rate hit a four year low in December when it fell to 6.7 percent, and has been at 7 percent or slightly above since.
Republican House Speaker Bill Batchelder said in a statement, “We are continuing to move in the right direction and prioritize economic development.”
He added, “While we have made tremendous strides to get Ohioans back to work, we still have much more to do.”
But Democratic House Minority Leader Armond Budish said in a statement, “Tens of thousands of students are graduating college across the state this month and we continue to see stagnant unemployment numbers. The governor needs to reinvest in our kids and communities.”
