Clark, Champaign counties see jump in jobless rates

State figures show labor force in Clark and Champaign counties is on the rise and more people are employed despite an increase in June’s unemployment rate.

The unemployment rate in Clark County was 4.2 percent in June, up from 3.3 percent the previous month. In Champaign County that rate also increased from 2.9 percent in May to 3.6 percent, according to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.

Both those counties experienced a downward trend in unemployment numbers starting at the beginning of the year. However, May saw a slight increase in unemployment rates in the area that continued into June.

But the latest numbers released by the state on Tuesday are not a bad thing, especially in Clark County, said Bill LaFayette, an economist and owner of Regionomics, a Columbus-based economics and workforce consulting firm. He said it shows an increase in the number of people looking for work, especially as area college students begin looking for summer jobs.

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“People tend to look at an increase in the unemployment rate as bad. However, it can go up because the number of people working has gone done, which is bad, or because the number of people looking for jobs has gone up,” LaFayette said. “What I am seeing is a good thing, because it means people are confident enough to start looking.”

Though the jump between May and June in terms of the unemployment rate can look alarming, LaFayette said those numbers “do not necessarily say anything about the underlying economy” since the state does not adjust those county figures to account for seasonal patterns.

Those factors can include seasonal employment, major holidays, school schedules and factors such as the influx of college students entering the labor force —around May and June— that are taken into account in determining the national and state unemployment rates.

Taking into account those seasonal factors would bring Clark County’s unemployment rate closer to 3.9 percent for both May and June, LaFayette added.

In addition to that, data collected by the Ohio DJFS showed the number of people in Clark County’s labor force, including those employed or looking for employment, increased to 64,300 people from 63,200 in May.

LaFayette said that increase is 700 people more than the average increase usually observed around this time of year. He added that “You can say the unemployment rate held steady despite the fact that more Clark County residents are working.”

The number of Clark County residents that were employed increased by 600. Those number’s have slightly increased compared to the same month last year, according to the Ohio DJFS.

Amy Donahoe, Director of Workforce Development with the Chamber of Greater Springfield, said there have been ongoing efforts to get Clark County residents tapped into the local job market.

“We have to make sure that we are showing local people that there are plenty of jobs (in the county),” she said, noting that work includes targeting part of the labor force that is living in Clark County but working outside of the county line.

Ohio’s unemployment rate last month was 4 percent, down from the 4.1 percent reported in May. The state’s seasonally adjusted civilian labor force number increased slightly, between May and June, by 2,000 people.

In Champaign County, the labor force remained relatively stagnant and was reported as 20,200 people last month, an increase of 100 compared to May. The number of those reported as employed went down by 100 as well, according to the most recent information from the Ohio DJFS.

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Marcia Bailey, Director of the Champaign Economic Partnership (CEP), said the county is still feeling the effects of several business expansions that occurred in the area over the past few years.

Navistar began construction on a distribution center in Urbana in 2017, a move Bailey said brought around 40 new jobs to the area and retained 114 more once it was completed.

Memorial Health showed off its new health center in the area last April, which created 12 new jobs and retained 21, the News-Sun reported.

However, Bailey said though they are seeing more activity from those companies, a number of jobs in Champaign county still remain unfilled.

Unemployment rates 2019

Clark County

January- 5.4

February- 4.6

March- 4.1

April- 3.2

May- 3.3

June- 4.2

Champaign County

January- 4.5