An uptick in those county residents employed or looking for work when compared to September caused the unemployment rate for October to increase as well.
Unemployment went up from 4.7% to 5% in Clark County and 4% to 4.2% in Champaign County between September and October, according to data recently released by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The labor force, which factors in the number of residents employed and those actively looking for work, increased by 1,000 people for Clark County between those two months. That number went from 61,800 to 62,800.
The estimated number of Clark County residents employed went from 58,900 in September to 59,700 in October.
In Champaign County, the increases were smaller with the labor force going from 19,100 to 19,200 and the number of people listed as employed went from 18,300 to 18,400.
Although there was an increase in the unemployment rate in October, it went up for the right reasons, said Bill LaFayette, an economist and owner of Regionomics, a Columbus-based economics and workforce consulting firm.
“It’s not a bad thing that we are seeing an increase (in the unemployment rate) because more people are employed and or are looking for work. We saw a little increase in resident employment,” LaFayette added.
When taking into account seasonal factors that may influence employment trends in a given month, there were 600 more people in Clark County’s labor force than what is traditionally seen in October.
There were also 300 more residents employed than what is normally seen during that month, LaFayette said.
There has been a steady increase since May in the labor force in Clark County when taking seasonal factors into account. That trend is on par with what has been seen on a state level. However, nationally the labor force has remained flat, LaFayette added.
The unemployment rate in Ohio decreased in October, going from 5.3% to 5.1%, when seasonally adjusted, despite an increase in the state’s labor force.
LaFayette said that the increases in the state and local labor forces points to the fact that more people are becoming comfortable enough to return to the workforce amid the pandemic.
That’s positive sign as the local economy recovers from the immediate impacts of the pandemic last year, he said.
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