Licking County employment reaches all-time high
- The unemployment rate increased to 4.2 percent in May, but county employment reached a new high.
- A year ago, the county unemployment rate was 4.8 percent and 81,100 had jobs. Now, 84,300.
NEWARK – More Licking County residents were employed in May than ever before, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Although the unemployment rate increased to 4.2 percent, Licking County employment reached an all-time high of 84,300 in May. The previous employment record was 83,500 in January.
Licking County first hit 80,000 people employed in November 2006, but employment then declined and did not reach that threshold again until October 2012.
A year ago, the Licking County unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, and 81,100 people had jobs. A month ago, the rate was 3.9 percent, with 83,200 people employed.
Dan Evers, director of the Grow Licking County community improvement corporation, said the trend is positive.
“I think, when you look at the numbers, what is important is we continue to see steady growth in labor participation and employment, sustainable and sustained over multiple quarters,” Evers said.
Licking County is growing in population, which can account for some of the employment growth but doesn’t account for all of the job numbers, Evers said.
“I’m not dismissing a part of employment growth to population increase, but some of the population increase is driven by employment opportunities,” Evers said.
“It doesn’t correspond exclusively with population growth,” Evers said. “I think these (employment) levels are sustainable, absent a macroeconomic catastrophe.”
The county’s population increased by 1.7 percent from 2010 to 2014, when employment grew by 5.2 percent. The job growth from 2010 to 2015 has been 9.3 percent.
The county’s employment hit 40,000 in 1970, then reached 50,000 in 1981, 60,000 in 1983, 70,000 in 1999 and 80,000 in 2006.
The civilian labor force also continues to grow, reaching 88,000 in May, compared with 85,000 a year ago and 86,600 a month ago.
In May, there were 3,700 people who were unemployed and actively looking for work, compared with 3,400 in April and 3,900 a year ago.
kmallett@newarkadvocate.com
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May employment
Year | Workforce | Employed | Unemployed | Unemployment rate |
2010 | 84,900 | 77,100 | 7,800 | 9.1 percent |
2011 | 84,600 | 77,700 | 6,900 | 8.2 percent |
2012 | 83,800 | 78,400 | 5,400 | 6.4 percent |
2013 | 85,700 | 80,000 | 5,700 | 6.6 percent |
2014 | 85,000 | 81,100 | 3,900 | 4.6 percent |
2015 | 88,000 | 84,300 | 3,700 | 4.2 percent |
Source: Ohio Department of Job & Family Services