The Columbus region has recovered about two-thirds of the 150,000 jobs that were lost during the early days of the pandemic, according to state jobs data released Tuesday.
The region had nearly 1.1 million jobs in January, a decrease of 43,900 jobs from January 2020, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said.
Nearly all the job losses occurred last April when government leaders shut down the economy in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
About 80,000 jobs were recovered in May and June, and the region has been gradually recovering jobs since then.
The region lost 17,800 jobs during January, and the unemployment rate did climb to 5.3% from 4.4% in December.
The regional unemployment data is not adjusted to account for seasonal changes. As a result, jobs typically decline in January and the unemployment rate goes up as seasonal, holiday jobs come to an end.
Unemployment rates rose in all 88 Ohio counties in January.
Columbus has fared better than Cleveland and Cincinnati when it comes to the jobs recovery.
Cleveland had 79,500 fewer jobs in January than it did in January 2020, while Cincinnati had 67,200 fewer jobs.
Central Ohio’s labor force has bounced back as well and now is about the same as it was a year ago.
Despite the turmoil from the pandemic, some sectors of the Columbus economy have added jobs over the year.
Construction and manufacturing added a combined 2,300 jobs from January 2020 to January 2021. The trade, transportation and utilities sector added 1,800 jobs, led by a surge in warehouse jobs as consumers accelerated their online purchases.
The badly hit leisure and hospitality sector has 24,200 fewer jobs than it did a year ago, the most losses of any sector.
Government has lost 8,800 jobs, the sector that covers private education and health care has lost 5,700 jobs, and the professional and business services sector lost 4,400 jobs.
Union County had the lowest unemployment rate in the region in January at 3.9%. It was one of five counties in Ohio with unemployment rates at or below 4% in January.
Delaware County had the next lowest rate at 4.1%, followed by 4.5% in Madison County and 4.8% in Licking County.
The rate was 5% in Fairfield County, 5.2% in Pickaway County and 5.4% in Morrow County.
Franklin County’s rate was 5.6%, and the rate for Columbus was 5.9%.
Cities in Ohio have been particularly hard hit by the shutdowns caused by the coronavirus, and their unemployment rates have been trending above regional rates.
Cleveland had an unemployment rate of 10.5% in January and Cincinnati’s rate was 5.8%.
Hocking and Perry counties had the highest rates among the counties in central Ohio, with Hocking’s rate at 5.8% and Perry’s rate at 6.8%.
Statewide, Holmes County in northeast Ohio had the lowest rate in the state at 3.1% and Noble County in eastern Ohio had the highest rate at 8.5%.
@BizMarkWilliams
