Ohio loses 1 in 3 jobs, study finds

Manufacturing jobs lost at an alarming rate in the past decade; Butler lost nearly 13 percent of its jobs in the sector.

COLUMBUS — From 2001-09, Ohio lost more than one of every three of the high-paying manufacturing jobs that made the state an economic powerhouse.

The news was somewhat less harsh for Butler County, which ranked 12th in the state in terms of increased manufacturing employment. The county lost only 2,665 manufacturing jobs, an overall decrease of 12.9 percent.

Middletown City Manager Judy Gilleland said Tuesday, May 11, she is “encouraged by the figures.”

“2008 and 2009 were extremely rough years in our economy,” Gilleland said. “I’m encouraged that Butler County fared as well as it did. We have great things going on in Butler County and in Middletown.”

Statewide, the total manufacturing job loss was 326,516, more jobs than there are residents of Toledo.

“That’s just a catastrophic disaster,” said George Zeller, a Cleveland-based economic analyst.

Zeller compiled the data from the federal government’s Quarterly Census of Employment and Earnings, an actual count of jobs and paychecks, not a survey based on sampling, he said.

The manufacturing job losses were part of a downward spiral that saw the state drop 587,743 jobs overall during the 2000s’ recession, a dip of nearly 11 percent.

While it took less of a blow in terms of manufacturing jobs, Butler County was among the state’s biggest losers in terms of finance and insurance employment at the tail end of the study, reportedly suffering a 14.7 percent loss – 1,293 jobs – from 2008-09.

Massive job losses resulted in huge declines in paycheck wages across the state. Butler County managed to somehow escape the brunt of those losses, actually posting a net gain of $113,717 from 2000-08.

Statewide, there was an inflation-adjusted drop of $22.3 billion a year in aggregate wages from 2000-09, a 10.7 decline.

According to the most recent unemployment rates available, 10.8 percent of Butler County residents are out of work. Hamilton and Middletown each posted an unemployment rate of 12.1 percent, according to statistics from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

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