Friday, June 24, 2005

Employment and the Economy - Week in Review

 

The Hannah Report (excerpt)

 

• Gov. Bob Taft awarded more than $1.1 million in grants to five colleges and one career center to provide advanced training for Ohio's skilled workforce and said this advanced training will help companies to further the skills of existing workers and to prepare those who will need to replace a growing number of retiring employees in the coming years.


• Gov. Bob Taft presented General Dynamics Land Systems' Joint Systems Manufacturing Center with a $680,000 grant from the Ohio Worker Guarantee Program, enabling the company to recruit and train the highly skilled workforce needed for its expanded manufacturing operation. The $50 million project is expected to retain 494 positions and create 100 jobs.


• Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson awarded Ottawa County a $439,300 grant for an economic development expansion project that will support a $1.6 million project that is expected to create 21 jobs.


• Policy Matters Ohio said foreclosures were on the rise in Ohio in 2004 noting that foreclosure filings rose three percent for a second year in a row, after years of larger increases. The group said foreclosures have leveled off, but at an extremely high level. Fifty of the state's 88 counties saw increases in foreclosure filings in 2004.


• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that pay and fringe benefit costs in the five-state eastern Midwest region, which includes Ohio, have jumped 4.5 percent in a year. This is faster than the national average and keeps area labor costs far ahead of those in the South -- a major competitor for factories.


• Ohio's unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in May -- a full percentage point behind the national unemployment rate of 5.1 percent for May, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS). ODJFS also reported that Ohio's May rate remained unchanged from the April rate as Ohio's nonfarm wage and salary employment rose 4,700 over the month, from 5,427,000 in April to 5,431,700 in May.

 

 

Hannah News Service  06/24/2005  Vol. 126, No. 124

 

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Policy Matters Ohio is a non-profit policy research organization founded in January 2000 to broaden the debate about economic policy in Ohio. Our mission is to conduct high-quality research promoting decisions which benefit our whole community. Given the challenges of a rapidly-changing economic system, rising wage inequality, new issues in education and changes in the way work is organized, it is imperative that Ohio workers have a voice in the economic debate.

 

Policy Matters provides real-world analysis focused on issues that matter to low- and middle-income workers in Ohio. Our findings are accessible to the public, the media, and policy makers. We hope to strengthen democracy by providing Ohio's citizens with the essential tools to participate in the public discussion on the economy. We believe this will result in economic policies that better reflect the public interest.