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900 more out of work locally

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 9:42 PM Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Local unemployment rates increased again last month, with an additional 900 people reportedly out of work in December.

Jobless rates in Butler County increased 0.4 percent from November 2009 to 9.9 percent in December while Warren County figures jumped 0.5 percent to 9.3 percent, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The December numbers reflect a lack of hiring during the holiday shopping season, said Brian Harter, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which released the statistics Tuesday, Jan. 26.

Last month represented a significant increase over reports from December 2008, when unemployment was 6.6 percent in Butler County and 6.2 percent in Warren County, according to the labor department.

The bleak employment picture continued on the local level, with Middletown, Hamilton and Fairfield — the only cities tracked by the labor department — each reporting jobless rate increases.

In Middletown, unemployment climbed to 11.3 percent last month, while Hamilton rose 0.5 percent to 11.5 percent. Fairfield had the smallest increase at just 0.2 percent to 9.3 percent.

Kronos Inc., which focuses on work-force management solutions, said its Kronos Retail Labor Index increased to 4.02 percent in December, marking the highest level the index reached in 2009. However, the index still indicates that for every 100 applications submitted for employment, there were only four hirings.

City and county unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted. The state seasonally adjusted rate for December was 10.9 percent; the seasonally unadjusted rate was 10.7 percent.

The employment picture is not expected to get much better in the near-term, according to Harter.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.

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