Just two months ago, in the wake of shutdowns and stay-at-home orders issued by the state government in response to COVID-19, Logan County registered an unemployment rate of 30 percent that was the highest in the state.
Now, as more and more businesses reopen, employees return to work and demand picks back up, the local unemployment rate has fallen below the state average.
Logan County’s unemployment rate came in at 9.5 percent for the month of June, according to data reported by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Logan County has a work force of 23,000, according to JFS data, and 2,200 were unemployed in the month of June.
Statewide, the unemployment rate was measured at 10.9 percent.
Logan County’s unemployment rate is also now mostly in line with surrounding with counties including Champaign (9.1 percent); Shelby (10.1 percent); and Hardin (10.2 percent). Union County (7.3 percent) has among the lowest unemployment rates in the region.
After eclipsing 30 percent in April, local unemployment dropped to around 14 percent in May and that decrease continued into June.
The county’s unemployment rate has swung drastically in recent months with closure and gradual reopening of manufacturing businesses, especially auto suppliers.
Of Logan County’s 30 largest employers, 14 are directly tied to the automotive industry. Because of coronavirus and a soft consumer demand for new vehicles, nearly each of those employers had to furlough or lay off workers in April.
Pre-coronavirus, Logan County’s unemployment measured around 4.8 percent for most of the first part of the year.
A number of employers are currently actively hiring, according to information from Ohio Means Jobs, particularly in manufacturing, sales and transportation industries.
Visit ohiomeansjobs.com; or contact OhioMeansJobs Logan County, 211 E. Columbus Ave., Bellefontaine, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.