Amy Donahoe, Director of Workforce Development for the Chamber of Greater Springfield, said with unemployment rates continuing to fall, Clark County has turned their attention to keeping Clark County workers in Clark County.
“We are taking a look at individuals who are living in Clark County but working outside of the community,” Donahoe said. “We are working toward getting community employers together and discussing how we can keep our workforce here.”
MORE: Unemployment continues to drop in Clark, Champaign County
Donahoe said over the last couple of weeks, local Clark County employers like Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken and Yamada North America, have come together to conduct surveys on what can be improved in order to keep residents working within the county.
“The Chamber will continue to do anything, and look into anything, that will help support of our workforce development,” Donahoe said.
Bill LaFayette, an economist and owner of Regionomics, a Columbus-based economics and workforce consulting firm, said the unemployment rate for Clark County shows consistency.
LaFayette said Ohio DJFS does not seasonally adjust or account for seasonal patterns in county unemployment rates. Seasonally adjusted numbers take summer hiring, holiday hiring and school schedules into account when calculating unemployment rates. State and national figures are adjusted for those factors.
“Seasonally adjusted, last month Clark County was at around 4 percent,” LaFayette said. “Which is still pretty good.”
Statewide, Ohio’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.3%, down .1% from March, according to Ohio DJFS.
MORE: Unemployment rate dips in Clark, Champaign counties
In Champaign County, unemployment fell for the fifth straight month. For April, the the unemployment rate was just 2.7%, down from 3.4% in March.
Marcia Bailey, Director of the Champaign Economic Partnership, said previously that the falling unemployment numbers are great for the county.
“These numbers are great, but there is a flip side to this story,” Bailey said. “The other is that there are still jobs that need to be filled and companies that are hiring right now.”
The nationwide unemployment rate fell to 3.6% for April, from 3.8% in March.
Clark County
April- 3.2
March- 4.1
February- 4.6
Janaury- 5.4
Champaign County
April- 2.7
March- 3.4
February- 3.8
January- 4.5
Source: Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
The Springfield News-Sun is committed to covering changes in employment and the economy in Clark and Champaign counties.
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