(6-25-23) Ohio’s unemployment rate was 3.6% in May 2023, down from 3.7% in April 2023. Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 6,600 over the month, from a revised 5,608,000 in April to 5,614,600 in May. This marks the lowest unemployment rate since 1976 when the series for reporting unemployment started.

Household Survey Data

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in May was 207,000, down from 211,000 in April. The number of unemployed has decreased by 16,000 in the past 12 months from 223,000. The May unemployment rate for Ohio decreased 0.3% from 3.9% in May 2022. The U.S. unemployment rate for May 2023 was 3.7%, up from 3.4% in April 2023, and up from 3.6% in May 2022.

Around the state…

In May 2023, the labor force participation rate in Ohio was 62.1%, up from 61.8% in April 2023 and up from 61.8% in May 2022. During the same period, the national labor force participation rate was 62.6%, unchanged from 62.6% in April 2023 and up from 62.3% in May 2022.

Among the state’s 88 counties, preliminary May 2023 unemployment rates ranged from a low of 2.1% in Mercer County to a high of 4.7% in Monroe County. From April, unemployment rates increased in 54 counties, decreased in 19 counties, and did not change in 15 counties. The comparable May unemployment rate for Ohio was 3.4%.

Four counties had unemployment rates below 2.5% in May. The counties with the lowest rates, other than Mercer, were: Putnam and Wyandot, 2.3%; and Holmes, 2.4%.

Three counties had unemployment rates at or above 4.5% in May. The counties with the highest rates, other than Monroe, were: Meigs, 4.6%; and Scioto, 4.5%