Unemployment rates in all of Ohio’s 88 counties increased in June as students wrapped up school and began looking for jobs.
In Summit, the unemployment rate rose to 7.1 percent in June from 6.6 percent in May. The rate was unchanged from a year ago, according to figures the state’s Department of Job and Family Services released Tuesday.
Angela Terez, a spokeswoman for the department, said: “The unemployment rates went up in every county from May to June, but the pattern that we’re seeing, one of the reasons for that, is the labor force is increasing in many areas throughout the state,” as people enter the labor force.
Terez said a growing labor force — a combination of those working and those looking for work — is a “bright spot. It shows more people are feeling hopeful about the economy and the chance to find a good job.”
The comparable seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate for Ohio last month was 7.5 percent, as the state lost the second-highest number of jobs in the nation. The Department of Job and Family Services released state data last week.
The unemployment rate is a measure of people actively searching for work based on a government survey of households. The rate does not count people who have grown discouraged and have given up looking for jobs. It also does not count people who are working part time but want full-time work.
In Akron, the unemployment rate for June was 7.9 percent, up from 7.4 percent in May and unchanged from a year ago.
In the city of Cuyahoga Falls, the June rate of 6.6 percent was up from May’s 6.1 percent and unchanged from June of last year.
Employment figures
In Summit County, the number of people working last month decreased to 264,700 — down 200 workers from May but up from 262,100 in June 2012.
The number of people in the labor force — those working or looking for work — was 284,900 in June. That’s an increase from 283,500 in May and from 282,000 a year ago.
The number of people counted as unemployed in the county increased to 20,200 in June, up from 18,600 in May and 19,900 in June 2012.
Summit County’s peak employment for June since 2000 was in June 2008, when 279,200 people were working.
That was several months after the official start of the Great Recession, in December 2007. Job losses grow as recessions drag on. The national recession officially ended in June 2009, but there are fewer jobs than at the start of the downturn.
In other jobs-related news released Tuesday, the state said that the number of people working in Summit and Portage counties totaled 328,700 in June. That’s a decrease of 2,000 from May and an increase of 5,800 from June 2012.
The goods-producing sector in the two counties, with 52,800 jobs, added 600 jobs from May to June as the mining, logging and construction sector’s gain of 700 jobs outpaced the loss of 100 positions in manufacturing.
The service sector added 2,100 jobs in the two-county area through gains concentrated in leisure/hospitality and utilities.
The government sector in the two counties lost 4,700 jobs due to seasonal declines in non-teaching personnel at the state and local levels.
Other counties
Here is unemployment rate data for other area counties, with the June 2013, May 2013 and June 2012 figures shown, respectively:
• Cuyahoga: 8.0, 7.0, 8.1.
• Stark: 7.5, 7.1, 7.5.
• Portage: 7.0, 6.7, 6.7.
• Medina: 6.6, 5.8, 6.4.
• Wayne: 6.5, 5.9, 6.3.
Statewide, June 2013 unemployment rates ranged from 4.6 percent in Mercer County to 12.7 percent in Meigs County.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.