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Ohioans finding better work as state adds jobs in December

January 21, 2022

Ohioans finding better work as state adds jobs in December

January 21, 2022

Newly available data show 141,000 Ohioans quit their jobs in November, but they didn’t stop working. They left for better jobs. The new data supplement the jobs and household surveys, which show improvement in December.

The job numbers: Seasonally adjusted data released today by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) show that Ohio employers added 8,800 jobs over the month, from an upwardly revised 5,396,600 in November to 5,405,400 in December. December job gains were smaller than in the past three months, but marked the fourth straight month of gains. Ohio employers added some 127,600 jobs in 2021. Over the last six months, Ohio has recovered jobs at a rate of 0.26% per month; about two thirds as fast as the U.S. Ohio enters 2022 with 204,500 fewer jobs than pre-COVID February 2020 (-3.6%).

The household survey: According to the separate household survey, 16,000 Ohioans entered the workforce last month to accept a job or begin their search, near the six-month average of 19,800 per month. 35,000 job seekers found work, pushing Ohio’s unemployment rate down 0.3 points to 4.5%. The nation’s was 3.9% for December.

Hires and quits: Separate data released today and newly available for states on Job Openings and Labor Turnover show that 141,000 Ohioans quit their jobs in November 2021, following a record high of 158,000 in August. Also in November 50,000 were laid off or fired and 201,000 were hired. Ohio led the nation in reduction in hires, with 23,000 fewer in November than in the prior month, but the data are preliminary and the change was not statistically significant.

Quotes from Policy Matters Researcher, Michael Shields:

On the job numbers: “Unprecedented fiscal stimulus has helped to drive Ohio’s recovery at twice the pace of recovery from the Great Recession,” said Policy Matters Ohio researcher, Michael Shields. “The lesson for policymakers is they must use the tools of government to drive a rapid and equitable recovery. It should be their top priority.”

On hires and quits: “Ohioans are working and have been working throughout the pandemic. Our unemployment rate and new data on hires and quits agree on that fact. Ohioans who quit mostly did so to take new jobs, not to leave the labor force. Lawmakers and special interest groups who seek to divide Ohioans and suppress wages by cutting stabilizing programs like unemployment compensation or funneling recovery dollars to wealthy corporations cannot in good faith claim otherwise. Ohioans quit their jobs in large numbers in November, but they didn’t leave work. They left for better jobs.”

Notes on the data: The ODJFS figures are from a survey of employers and preliminary numbers are subject to revision. Data from the employer and household surveys were gathered before the Omicron surge in new COVID-19 cases. Ohio remains on track to recover the jobs claimed by the COVID recession by the end of the year. This projection does not account for job growth we would have seen if not for COVID-19.

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2022JobWatchMichael ShieldsWork & Wages

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