Unemployment down for Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties
WARREN, Ohio - Area business leaders talked job growth in Trumbull County on Tuesday afternoon.
Recent numbers show the jobless rate for the Youngstown Warren metro area dropped to its lowest point since October of 2008. Unemployment dropped to 7.4% for May, that's compared to 7.8% in April.
Mahoning County saw the biggest change, improving seven tenths of a percent to 7.4%. Trumbull County's unemployment is 7.2%, the lowest rate in the Valley.
Unemployment numbers for Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana Counties are all down and below the national average.
The drop in unemployment is welcomed news, but for Jobs Ohio President Mark Kvamme it's only the beginning. "What we want to do is look at long term economic development," Kvamme said. "We're very happy the numbers are below the national average and we're heading in the right direction, but every month it changes."
In the past 12 months Ohio has added more than 75,000 jobs.
Kvamme attributes the growth to eight major industries, including automotive with 50% of all auto workers employed in Ohio or within 500 miles of the border, polymer science with 9% of all U.S. industry jobs in the state, and energy with the state's continued growth of Utica Shale development.
Kvamme said it's still too early to tell the overall impact the Utica Shale industry will have on the state. Experts tell him once 100 wells are drilled; you know you have a well defined industry. Currently Ohio has about 30.
"These rigs can go to North Dakota, they can go to Pennsylvania, they can go to Texas, we have to create a very advantageous environment for them," Kvamme said.
State Senator Capri Cafaro believes the first step in creating that environment is to hold more meetings between business leaders and Jobs Ohio. "Hopefully this discussion is the first step in how to cooperate the economical needs of our community with the resources and the programs Jobs Ohio has available," Cafaro said.
