Ohio jobs report exceptionally strong in February

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The Ohio jobs report released Friday showed Ohio’s economy is growing and picking up steam, says Rea S. Hederman, Jr., executive vice president of The Buckeye Institute according to an analysis by The Buckeye Institute.

“The February jobs report has great news for Ohio as thousands of people entered the labor force and found jobs,” says Hederman, director of the Economic Research Center at The Buckeye Institute.

Ohio created 12,400 new jobs. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 percent.

“The labor force participation rate jumped up to the national average while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9 percent. This means that the labor market is creating enough new job opportunities to meet the surge of new workers,” Hederman said.

Ohio’s labor force participation rate was 62.9% in February, up 0.2 percentage points. It is now comparable the U.S. average. This measure shows the portion of people over 16 who are working or looking for work.

Ohioans once too discouraged to look for work are now optimstic that jobs for exist, Hederman says. A total of 34,000 Ohioans entered the labor force last month. Of those, 28,000 got jobs and 6,000 are still looking and thus counted as unemployed.

Job growth was especially strong in the service and real estate sectors, Hederman says.

Founded in 1989, The Buckeye Institute is an independent research and educational institution — a think tank — whose mission is to advance free-market public policy in the states.

Staff report

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