(11-21-23) Ohio’s unemployment rate was 3.6% in October 2023, up from 3.4% in September. Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment increased 7,700 over the month, from a revised 5,648,200 in September to 5,655,900 in October. This marks the highest payroll employment reported since the series started in 1990.

October 2023 Ranking of Ohio County Unemployment Rates (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

Among the state’s 88 counties, preliminary October 2023 unemployment rates ranged from a low of 2.5% in Geauga, Holmes, and Mercer Counties to a high of 5.4% in Lucas County. From September, unemployment rates increased in 74 counties, decreased in six, and remained unchanged in eight. The comparable October unemployment rate for Ohio was 3.5%.

Thirteen counties had unemployment rates at or below 3.0% in October. The counties with the lowest rates, other than Geauga, Holmes, and Mercer, were: Medina and Putnam, 2.6%; Lake, 2.7%; Auglaize and Wayne, 2.8%; Union and Van Wert, 2.9%; and Delaware, Logan, and Madison, 3.0%.

Six counties had unemployment rates at or above 4.5% in October. The counties with the highest rates, other than Lucas, were: Jefferson, 5.2%; Noble, 4.7%; Henry and Monroe, 4.6%; and Meigs, 4.5%.

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in October was 207,000, up from 199,000 in September. The number of unemployed has decreased by 31,000 in the past 12 months from 238,000. The October unemployment rate for Ohio decreased 0.6% from 4.2% in October 2022. The U.S. unemployment rate for October 2023 was 3.9%, up from 3.8% in September 2023 and up from 3.7% in October 2022.

In Indiana Jay County reported a 3.1% unemployment rate…up 0.2 percentage points, tied for 42nd-lowest.