BUTLER COUNTY UNEMPLOYMENT UPDATE
Butler County’s unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in May, down from 5.1 percent a year ago, according to new state estimates released Tuesday.
The number of people searching for a job but unable to find one fell from 9,500 county residents a year ago to 8,200 residents last month, according to the preliminary estimates released by Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
Some of the year-over-year decline is due to job growth — an additional 4,100 Butler County people were working last month than there were in May 2014.
Unemployment rates do not consider people who are out of work and not searching for a job, and are based on results of a phone survey of households, as well as the number of people receiving unemployment benefits and population growth. Estimates could also be revised up or down later.
The unemployment rate in neighboring Warren County is 4.1 percent, down from 4.6 percent a year ago.
Overall, employment levels in the 15-county Cincinnati metropolitan area — which includes Butler and Warren counties as well as parts of eastern Indiana and northern Kentucky — has reached 1,044,800 people working. Likewise, the region’s unemployed sank year-over-year to 47,300 people, or 4.3 percent, who say they’re hunting for a job, according to the state estimates.
Ohio’s unemployment rate dipped to 5.2 percent from 5.7 percent this time last year.
The amount of residents working in the Cincinnati metropolitan has yet to return to pre-recessionary levels, when 1,061,300 were working in December 2007.
— Chelsey Levingston, Staff Writer
As part of its ongoing hiring efforts, Fairfield food manufacturer Koch Foods Inc. has scheduled a job fair for Saturday to provide job seekers one more opportunity to meet with the company’s human resources team face-to-face.
There are still about 150 jobs left to fill, and Koch Foods is hosting its third job fair this month on Saturday (June 27). However, this time, the job fair is being held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on-site at the manufacturing plant located at 4100 Port Union Road.
Applications will be accepted and on-the-spot interviews will be conducted at that time, said Angela Smith, a recruiter for the company.
Prior job fairs were held at the county-run job center OhioMeansJobs.
Job openings include the following, according to information provided by the chicken company:
• General laborers, paying starting wages of $9 to $9.40 per hour depending on whether hires work first or second shift;
• Production stackers for first and second shift, paying $10 to $10.40 an hour;
• Quality assurance technicians, with starting pay between $11 and $12.55 an hour for second shift depending on experience;
• Warehouse workers and inventory control positions that pay starting wages of $11.40 an hour and have openings in both second and third shifts; and
• Data capture palletizers, a second and third shift job paying $11.40 hour.
Job requirements for any of the positions listed above include being able to pass a background check, and passing a pre-employment drug screening, according to Smith.
Also, employees have to be able to withstand working in cold temperatures because it is a food processing company and all products are cold, refrigerated or frozen, she said.
Those that can’t attend Saturday’s job fair can submit applications in-person from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Fridays at the local manufacturing plant site on Port Union Road.
Koch Foods is headquartered in Park Ridge, Ill. In Butler County, the company currently employs about 840 hourly and salary jobs, according to the human resources department. The company in recent years announced an expansion of its office and warehouse space in Fairfield, and is one of the city’s top 10 employers, said Greg Kathman, Fairfield’s economic development manager.
Every Sunday, this news outlet reports on new job opportunities in the community including companies hiring, how to apply, training programs and other economic trends that can affect your job search.
Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business Expo & Job Fair returns from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday at the Hamilton High School Athletic Center, at 1165 Eaton Avenue. The event is free and open to the public.
This is the 24th annual local business exhibition hosted by the chamber. For the third consecutive year, businesses participating in the job fair held concurrently with the expo are hiring and want to connect with job seekers.
For more information, go online to www.hamilton-ohio.com or call the chamber at 513-844-1500.
Cincinnati-based nonprofit hospital and doctor system Mercy Health has over 2,000 job openings including clinical, office and administrative positions, and will be attending the Hamilton chamber business expo. Mercy will also be recruiting at a health care industry job fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, June 29, at the OhioMeansJobs – Clermont County job center, located at 756 Old Ohio 74.
For more information, go online to www.mercy.jobs.
Also Thursday, Amazon is making on-the-spot job offers for full-time fulfillment associates at a job fair being held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton, 2826 Terminal Dr., in Hebron, Ky. The online retailer is hiring for its Hebron fulfillment centers, according to the company's website www.amazonfulfillmentcareers.com. Get more details by visiting the website, clicking events, and searching for the regional job fair.
Trade Global, an ecommerce and distribution center company in West Chester Twp., is seeking more than 200 call center, customer service and picking/packing workers, according to OhioMeansJobs — Butler County. It is conducting open interviews from 9 a.m. to noon Monday, June 29, at OhioMeansJobs — Butler, 4631 Dixie Hwy., Fairfield (Ohio 4); and again at the same time Tuesday, June 30, at OhioMeansJobs — Warren, 300 Silver St., Lebanon.
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