Ohio's Unemployment Rate Is Declining And Businesses Say It's Hard To Find Workers

Ohio’s unemployment rate was down slightly in June. It was an even 4 percent last month compared to 4.1 percent in May. Companies in Ohio have jobs that are going unfilled right now.

The number of unemployed Ohioans has decreased by 31,000 during the past year. In fact, Keith Lake with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce says it’s now to the point that some businesses are having difficulty finding people to hire.

“We’ve got member companies across the state who tell me, when we talk to them, that one of their biggest concerns continues to be workforce and lots of them are having difficulty filling job openings," Lake says.

Employers have said they’re having to compete for good workers. They say they can’t find candidates who have the right skills or who can pass drug tests. Though Ohio’s jobless rate has fallen for the last five months, it’s still higher than the national rate of 3.7 percent.

Copyright 2019 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.