But the metro area’s workforce is smaller than it was a year ago and it has not grown in two years, according to seasonally adjusted data.
Dayton is the only major metro area in the state that has not seen its payrolls increase in the last two years.
“The Dayton metro area has added jobs since the recession,” said Benjamin Johnson, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. “If we look specifically at the last two years, not seasonally adjusted private employment has increased by about 2,500, but seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment been static.”
Nonfarm payrolls in the Dayton metro area increased 0.3 percent to 376,400 workers in November, according to seasonally adjusted data. The metro area includes Greene, Miami, Montgomery and Preble counties.
The growth came after local payrolls shrank by 2,300 workers in October. The nonfarm workforce in October was the smallest it had been since August 2011.
Monthly labor data is volatile and subject to later revisions, and experts warn against reading too much into a single month of data.
But locally, it has been a up-and-down labor market this year, with job gains in January and February, losses in March and April, gains in May and June, losses in July and August and then gains in September.
In the bigger picture, local employment is down 1,800 workers from November 2012, and it is unchanged from November 2011.
Between November 2012 and last month, only the Dayton, Lima, Mansfield and Sandusky metro areas have seen payrolls remain flat or decline.
The Akron, Canton, Cincinnati-Middletown, Columbus, Springfield, Toledo and Youngstown metro areas have all added jobs during that time.
About the Author