Thinktank: Ohio Economy Pretty Much Stinks
Posted September 06, 2011 in Press Releases
Cincinnati.com
That’s a paraphrase, but the report from Policy Matters Ohio, a Cleveland-based liberal
leaning think tank provides a whole host of grim statistics in its “State of Working Ohio 2011.″
Some lowlights from the report:
“- Ohio has lost 594,000 jobs since peak employment just over a decade ago.
- Unemployment is at crisis levels in the black community. For two years in a row, more
than 16 percent of black Ohioans have been actively seeking work and unable to find it.
- Young adults are trying to break into the labor market at the most inhospitable time in
recent history. A staggering 20.4 percent of 16-24 year olds could not find work in 2010.
- Nearly one in four workers (23 percent) with less than a high school education was
jobless in 2010, worse than any time in the last two decades. High school graduates
faced a 12 percent official unemployment rate. Even those with a BA or more had a 4.5
percent unemployment rate, exceeding any rate tracked in the last 31 years.
- Persistent unemployment is the worst in recorded history. Those who’ve been
unemployed for more than 26 weeks make up a far larger share of the unemployed than
in other slumps. A breathtaking 42.4 percent of the unemployed had been out of work
for more than half a year during 2010, the highest level in more than 60 years. More
than 29 percent of Ohio’s unemployed had been out of work for more than a year. Fully
a quarter of black workers, nearly a third of young workers, and more than a third of
those with less than a high school degree were defined as underemployed in 2010.
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