April Jobless Rate Drops

By William Hershey, Columbus Bureau Updated 10:39 AM Tuesday, May 24, 2011

COLUMBUS — The monthly unemployment rates for Dayton and Montgomery County continued to drop in April, reaching their lowest levels since December 2008, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported Tuesday.

Dayton’s rate remained in the double digits, 10.1 percent, for the 28th straight month, but was down from 12.7 percent in April 2010 and from 10.4 percent in March.

The Montgomery County rate for April was 9.2 percent, down from 11.4 percent in April 2010 and from 9.5 percent in March.

It was the third consecutive month the rates had dropped in the city and county.

The April rate also dropped to 9 percent for the Dayton metro area, which includes Greene, Montgomery, Miami and Preble counties. That’s down from 11.2 percent in April 2010 and from 9.4 percent in March.

Across Ohio, county unemployment rates ranged from a low of 5.8 percent in Mercer County to a high of 14.5 percent in Pike County in southern Ohio. The monthly rates dropped in 87 of 88 counties. The rate increased slightly in Logan County, from 9.6 percent in March to 9.8 percent in April.

Among Dayton area counties, Warren County’s 7.6 percent rate was the lowest while Preble County’s 10.2 percent was the highest.

Among area cities, Mason’s 6.2 percent rate was the lowest, while Trotwood had the highest rate at 10.5 percent.

The rates for cities, counties and metro areas are not seasonally adjusted. The not-seasonally-adjusted April rate for Ohio was 8.4 percent. The state seasonally adjusted rate was 8.6 percent.

 Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.