Ohio's unemployment rate remained unchanged in November, holding steady at 4.2 percent even as the state made modest job gains.
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services report released Friday shows that Ohio employers added 5,500 jobs over the course of November, based on a revised U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics number for October.
While the state has steadily added jobs since November of last year, it's still more than 100,000 jobs short of where it was before the pandemic.
Rea Hederman Jr., vice president of policy at The Buckeye Institute, called the November jobs report "mixed," but praised the polices of the outgoing General Assembly, which he said should improve Ohio’s job market in 2023.
Federal Reserve officials raised interest rates by another half a percentage point this week in their ongoing fight against inflation. Rates are now at their highest level in 15 years.
Michael Shields, a researcher with Policy Matters Ohio, called on the Federal Reserve to slow or pause interest rate hikes until states like Ohio can recover jobs lost during the pandemic.
