Data released Friday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services also showed that total employment actually decreased by 15,400 in August, from a revised 5,046,600 in July to 5,031,200.
The drop was mainly due to the loss of temporary census jobs and private sector temporary jobs, said Ben Johnson, ODJFS spokesman.
Gains in retail and wholesale employment helped to offset some losses, said Johnson.
The number of unemployed workers in August also dipped, to 601,000 from 614,000 in July.
Over the past 12 months, the number of jobless has dropped by 37,000 from 638,000.
The August rate was down from the 10.7 percent rate in August 2009.
While the drop in the unemployment rate was welcome news, August still marked the state’s 17th month of double-digit joblessness, reminder of the slow recovery.
However, Mayland said he expects hiring to pick up because the “productivity rubber band has been kind of stretched as far at it can be.
We’re working our workers long and hard,” he said.
To get more production will require more workers, he said.
Ohio’s unemployment rate topped the 9.6 national rate for August, virtually unchanged from the 9.5 percent rate in July.
Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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