However, only the Springfield, Canton and Mansfield metro areas have seen weaker job creation. Springfield has seen the largest job decline in the state.
The state of Ohio has added just 1,800 jobs since April, and other economic indicators suggest that some Ohioans have stopped looking for work and decided to leave the labor force, says Policy Matters Ohio, a liberal leaning research institute.
“Businesses are reporting anxiety around the current economic situation,” said Heather Smith, a work and wages researcher with Policy Matters Ohio
Job growth
About 396,300 people were employed in the Dayton metro area in June, says preliminary, seasonally adjusted BLS data that is subject to revision. The metro area includes Montgomery, Miami and Greene counties.
Local employment last month increased 0.2% (+600 jobs), compared to May. That was the largest one-month gain since February (+1,200 jobs), and the second largest since January 2024.
Local payrolls increased by 500 jobs in May (+0.1%) and 300 jobs in April (+0.1%). The Dayton area lost 900 jobs in January and 600 in March.
In total, the Dayton region created 1,500 new net jobs in the first half of 2025; that’s roughly the same number of jobs that local employers created in the first two quarters of 2024.
However, things went downhill for the local job market in the second half of 2024, and the region saw a net loss of 600 jobs in Q3 and Q4.
Worse than other cities
Dayton area employment has increased 0.4% this year. That’s behind the Cleveland metro area (+1.6%); Akron and Columbus (+1.2%); Toledo (+0.8%); Youngstown (+0.6%); and Cincinnati (+0.5%).
The Lima metro area has seen 0.4% job growth, while Canton has experienced a 0.1% increase. Employment has declined the most in Springfield metro area (-1.4%), followed by Mansfield (-0.2%). The Springfield metro area is all of Clark County.
Year over year, Dayton region has seen robust, long-term growth in the construction and education and health service sectors, according to not seasonally adjusted data.
But manufacturing employment has declined, year over year, for most of the last two and a half years. Professional and business services jobs have decreased year over year for nine consecutive months.
Smith, with Policy Matters Ohio, says the labor data indicate that the Dayton region has lost state and federal government jobs since the end of last year.
“Dayton has lost 600 federal government jobs since Dec. 24, and being home to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base may be impacting that,” she said.
Some businesses may be holding off on hiring or choosing to reduce staff until there is more certainty about economic conditions, Smith said.
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