Unemployment high in local counties

SANDUSKY — The counties of Ottawa, Huron and Erie had some of the highest unemployment rates among Ohio's 88 counties during January, according to unemployment numbers state officials released Tuesday. The numbers also show that in early 2023, it's still a pretty good time to look for a job. Unemployment fell in January, both in the U.S. and in Ohio. County unemployment rates in Ohio in January ranged from a high of 8.5% and a low of 2.6%, with Ottawa, Huron and Erie counties all relatively high. Ottawa County's unemployment rate of 7.4% put it as fifth highest in the state, while Huron County's rate of 7.1% ranked it sixth. Erie County's rate of 6.0% put it at 11th. Unemployment rates in the Sandusky area tend to be high in the winter, when tourism-related jobs wane. Ohio's Bureau of Labor Market Information, which released the estimates, said they are not seasonally adjusted. Other local unemployment rates in January: Sandusky County, 4.7%; Lorain County, 4.5%, and Seneca County, 4.3%. Ohio's unemployment rate was 4.0% in January 2023, down from a revised 4.1% in December 2022 and also down from 4.1% in January 2022. The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.4% in January, down from 3.5% in December 2022, and down from 4.0% in January 2022. The U.S. unemployment rate did rise to 3.6% in February, according to numbers the U.S. Department of Labor released on March 10. That's still low, and it's still a good time to look for a job, said President Biden's secretary of labor, Marty Walsh. "With 12.4 million jobs added since President Biden took office, and an average of 351,000 jobs added per month over the past three months, this growth continues the steady, stable progress that is bringing opportunities to more workers and security to more families across the country," Walsh said. "Growth was especially strong in the leisure and hospitality sector, as restaurants and bars added jobs, in retail trade, and in healthcare, where hospitals and nursing homes added significant numbers of jobs. The unemployment rate remained near its historic low, ticking up to 3.6 percent as more people continued to enter labor markets looking for work," Walsh said. Walsh also noted, "The unemployment rate has now been under four percent for a full year, and in February, for the first time, labor force participation for adults between the ages of 25-54 is higher than it was before the pandemic." Walsh is leaving Biden's cabinet to become executive director of the players union for the National Hockey League. He's expected to take his new job this month. Walsh is a Boston Bruins fan who is described as having an "encyclopedic" knowledge of the sport. Biden has nominated Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su to serve as the next secretary of labor.