The Cincinnati area’s unemployment rate continued to climb in February, hitting 8.9 percent and a 25-year high, according to statistics released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The rate is up from 8.4 percent in January and is nearly double February 2008’s rate of 5.2 percent. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted, and do not take into account normal employment fluctuations.
The national seasonally adjusted February rate is 8.1 percent; Ohio’s seasonally adjusted rate for February is 9.4 percent. The Kentucky state rate for February will be released later this week – unemployment hit 8.7 percent there in January.
Overall, the 15-county area lost 4,800 jobs in February, and the total was down 31,600 since the same month last year. The sectors taking the biggest losses were manufacturing and construction, with 2,300 jobs lost. The service sector also lost 2,500 jobs to more than offset a slight gain in government jobs.
In addition, the number of those unemployed but seeking work grew by 5,300, or 5.7 percent.
The report covers Boone, Kenton, Campbell, Bracken, Gallatin, Grant and Pendleton counties in Kentucky; Brown, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties in Ohio; and the Indiana counties of Dearborn, Franklin and Ohio.
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