Ohio gained 5,300 jobs in July, but continues to lag the nation for job growth.
The state data released Friday also shows that June’s job loss was not as big as initially thought. The state released revised figures, showing that 8,400 jobs were lost in June, instead of 12,500.
Ohio’s unemployment rate was 7.2 percent in July, unchanged from June.
George Zeller, a Cleveland-based research analyst, said, “The good news is we gained 5,300 jobs, the bad news is our job growth was below the national average in July.”
He noted that July was the 13th consecutive month that Ohio’s rate of job growth was slower than that of the nation as a whole.
“We’re in a recovery in Ohio,” Zeller said, “but the recovery is very slow and way below the national average.”
So far this year, the state has gained 40,100 jobs. That compares with new revised numbers that show Ohio gained 40,300 in all of 2012.
Zeller said the gains mean Ohio is now down a net 210,600 jobs — or 3.9 percent of Ohio’s jobs — since the December 2007 start of the 2007-2009 Great Recession.
A bright spot in Friday’s report was the continued growth in manufacturing, a sector where the state reported a gain of 2,400 jobs in July. Manufacturing jobs are considered key to a continued recovery as they produce spinoff jobs in related industries and generally are higher paying.
Total nonfarm employment in Ohio increased by 5,300 jobs from a revised 5,205,600 in June to 5,210,900 in July, the state said. The state gets the jobs numbers from a survey of employers — businesses, governments, and other organizations — that is conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Among service jobs, the big gain was in the leisure and hospitality sector, which saw a growth of 4,500. This sector includes restaurant workers.
The government sector continued to lose jobs in July, with losses in local government — 3,900 jobs — and 500 fewer federal jobs offsetting an increase of 1,100 jobs in state government.
Since July a year ago, the state has lost 9,800 government jobs, Zeller noted.
He blamed state cuts in local government funds and money going to school districts. The government employment sector includes school jobs.
The state, using data from a separate survey, reported that the number of unemployed workers was 416,000, up 3,000 from 413,000 in June.
Unemployment rates do not provide a complete picture of joblessness.
The figures do not count people who are unemployed but have given up looking for work or who are working part time but want a full-time job.
The July unemployment rate for Ohio was unchanged from 7.2 percent in July 2012.
The U.S. unemployment rate for July was 7.4 percent, down from 7.6 percent in June and down from 8.2 percent in July 2012.
The state will release unemployment information for the state’s counties and larger cities Tuesday.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.