By Dylan McCament, KnoxPages.com Reporter
COLUMBUS – Unemployment in Knox County fell slightly in the month of August, according to a report released this week by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The unemployment rate for the county was 4.1 percent in August, down from 4.3 percent in July. The August 2016 figure is lower than both the state and national perentages for last month. The Knox County rate for August 2015 was 4.3 percent.
Out of an estimated labor force of 31,500, there were 1,300 unemployed workers in Knox County in August, according to the report.
Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.7 percent in August 2016, down from 4.8 in July and it was up slightly from 4.6 in August 2015.
The U.S. unemployment rate for August was 4.9 percent, unchanged from July and down from 5.1 in August 2015.
The August unemployment rate for the counties surrounding Knox County were as follows: Ashland, 4.3 (down from 4.5); Coshocton, 6.5 (down from 6.8); Delaware, 3.4 (unchanged from July); Holmes, 3.3 (down from 3.5); Licking, 4.1 (down from 4.2); and Richland, 4.9, (down from 5.3).
Among the state’s 88 counties, August 2016 unemployment rates ranged from a low of 3.0 percent in Mercer County to a high of 9.0 percent in Monroe County. From July, unemployment rates decreased in 72 counties, increased in one county, and did not change in 15 counties.
Nine counties had unemployment rates at or below 3.5 percent in August. The counties with the lowest rates, other than Mercer were: Putnam, 3.2 percent; Holmes, 3.3 percent; Delaware and Wyandot, 3.4 percent; and Auglaize, Hancock, Madison, and Union, 3.5 percent.
