Ohio continues to improve for 5th straight month! Unemployment rate dropped again for April, going from 7.5% in March to 7.4% in April. That compares quite favorably to the 9.5% rate in December 2010 before the new governor, John Kasich, took office.
In December 2010, 560,000 people were unemployed. In March 2012, 438,000 were unemployed, and it further dropped to 431,000 in April 2012. That’s an additional 129,000 people with paychecks since Kasich’s tenure began.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of employees by industry for Ohio in April 2012 vs April 2011 is:
| Industry | Apr 2011 | Apr 2012 | % Chg |
| Trade, Transportation, Utility | 957.1 | 973.7 | +1.7% |
| Education/Health | 849.3 | 865.8 | +1.9% |
| Government | 770.1 | 767.0 | -0.4% |
| Prof/Bus Services | 647.7 | 655.0 | +1.1% |
| Manufacturing | 635.6 | 652.2 | +2.6% |
| Leisure/Hospitality | 481.3 | 473.1 | -1.7% |
| Financial | 279.2 | 276.4 | -1.0% |
| Construction | 172.9 | 173.9 | +0.5% |
The National unemployment rate continues to be above 8%, at 8.1%, but there’s much debate on the accuracy of that number because it does not include people who have dropped out of the market or are underemployed.
Let’s hope the Governor continues his successes to bring or keep businesses here in Ohio which will certainly help our housing market. As you can see from the chart, two industries connected with real estate are at the bottom of the chart growth. Plus, since Realtors® are self-employed (don’t qualify for unemployment) we’re not even included in the unemployment numbers even though a substantial number of agents have had to exit the business.
