Portage County unemployment rate falls, a look at the rate over the last year
The unemployment rate in Portage County fell to 4.6 percent in the month of August.
The lowest unemployment rate in the state of Ohio was Mercer County at three percent and the highest was Monroe County at 10.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
“The number of people working didn’t change a whole lot, “said Benjamin Johnson, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. “The unemployment rate went down because there are more people working.”
In just July of this year, the unemployment for the county was at 5.2 percent up 0.1 percent from the previous month.
“The unemployment rate did not rise because there were fewer people working,” said Johnson. It rose because there were more people looking for work.”
Portage County compared to surrounding areas
Out of the 88 counties in Ohio, Portage County ranked in the bottom half at 63rd, making it one of the counties with the lowest unemployment rate.
“We have continually improved and we are extremely relieved so see the rate continue to go down,” said Kathleen Chandler, president of the Portage County board of commissions.
The six counties in the surrounding area all had unemployment rates higher than Portage ranging from 5.0 percent all the way up to 7.0 percent.
| County | Unemployment Rate in percent |
| Cuyahoga | 7.0 |
| Trumbull | 6.0 |
| Mahoning | 5.9 |
| Geauga | 5.4 |
| Stark | 5.1 |
| Summit | 5.0 |
| Portage | 4.6 |
“Portage County’s unemployment rate is better than average,” said Johnson. “Its unemployment rate is lower than half of the other 88 counties in the state of Ohio.”
The unemployment rate in Portage County for August 2014 was 4.6 percent compared to the same month in 2013 when it was 6.5 percent.
“In August 2013, there were 84,600 people working and exactly one year later there were 86,100 people working,” said Johnson. “More people are working this year then they were last year.”
Over the last year, the unemployment rate has gone down drastically in part due to the redevelopment in the county, said Chandler.
“The unemployment rate is 4.6, which is really quite good,” said Chandler. “The optimum we would like to see it at is 3.5-4.0 percent because that’s when we would consider to be at full employment.”
An organization that tries to add jobs to the economy and keep the unemployment rate low is the Portage Development Board. It is a non-profit organization whose benefactors include the county itself and even Kent State University.
“The economy is recovering and Portage County’s location is ideal,” said Brad Ehrhart, president of the Portage Development Board.
Within the six counties that surround Portage County there are four major metropolitan areas: Cleveland, Akron, Canton and Youngstown.
“The recession’s over,” Ehrhart said. “It‘s actually been over and while the rest of the counties are doing good, we’re doing great.”
