Economic report details continuing Ohio job losses

By LARRY SHIELDS
SALEM — A new economic report titled “Job and Earnings Trends in Ohio counties” details job and paycheck losses suffered by Ohio’s 88 counties since 2000.

The report is broken down by both industry and county within Ohio.

Compiled by Cleveland economic research Analyst George Zeller, a 1967 Salem High School graduate, it says so far Ohio has lost 208,041 jobs in the recession which began in 2000-2001.

That represents 3.8 percent of the employment in the state while four counties including Lucas, Cuyahoga, Franklin, and Stark lost more than a fifth of their manufacturing jobs.

Overall, the high-wage manufacturing sector was the hardest hit with189,626 manufacturing jobs lost, or 19.7 percent since 2001.

Zeller said, “The loss of one-fifth of Ohio’s high-wage manufacturing jobs in only six years was catastrophic.”

Zeller added, “The state’s job losses actually exceed these figures, since there have been additional job losses in 2008 that are not yet available at the county level, and since the redefinition of industries in 2001.”

The statewide figures, broken down for Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties, show a 31.5 percent loss of manufacturing jobs in second quarters data from 2001 to 2007.

For example, Columbiana County suffered the loss of 2,148 manufacturing jobs, down from 8,546 to 6,398 jobs in that six-year, second quarter period.

Mahoning County fell from 11,974 jobs to 10,182, or a loss of 1,792 jobs or a 15 percent decline.

Trumbull County, by far the hardest hit in the tri-county area, fell from 27,965 jobs to 17,102, or a loss of 10,863 jobs or a 38.8 percent plunge.

In total job losses, based on second quarter data from 2000-2007, Columbiana County went from 34,813 jobs

See JOBS, Page 7A

to 31,857, or a loss of 2,956 jobs or an 8.5 percent drop.

Mahoning County went from 112,667 total jobs to 104,021 or a loss of 8,646 jobs or a 7.7 percent decline.

Trumbull County again suffered the biggest loss, dropping from 95,626 to 79,595 jobs, down 16,031 for a 16.8 percent dive.

Zeller also point out that, “Beginning in 2007, Ohio lost substantial numbers of jobs in finance and insurance, which is normally a very strong industry in many parts of the state.

“As a result of the large and widespread job losses, Ohio lost an annualized $1.4 billion in total paycheck earnings since 2001.

“This loss of $1.4 billion created serious hardship for workers who lost their job in the state.

“But, Ohio’s job losses exceeded its losses in paycheck earnings.

“The state lost 3.8 percent of its jobs, but total paycheck earnings fell by only 1.9 percent.

Because of that, he said, “Average earnings of surviving jobs in Ohio actually increased...the average paycheck earnings of a job increased by almost 2% in Ohio during the 2000s recession.”

Zeller said, “Consequently, the impact of the recession was quite different among workers who retained jobs, where wages continued to rise, and among workers who lost their jobs, where paychecks plunged to zero.

“This increased the level of economic inequality in the state, and it caused very different perceptions of the recession among Ohio residents, depending upon whether they retained their employment.”

Furthermore, he explained, “On a regional basis through the third quarter of 2007, the net annual paycheck earnings loss from the recession in Ohio was about $3.3 billion.

“Stunningly, on a net basis, northeast Ohio accounted for Ohio’s entire net annual paycheck earnings loss through the third quarter of 2007.

“Trumbull County was particularly hard hit, but the Cleveland, Youngstown, and Canton metropolitan areas all lost substantial levels of paycheck earnings.

“Akron bucked this trend. The two county Akron metro area actually experienced paycheck earnings gains during the 2000s recession. Further, other regions of the state also experienced losses in both jobs and paycheck earnings.

“In contrast to the horrible losses, both employment and earnings have grown on a statewide basis in Health Services during the 2000s recession. That positive development is tempered by the fact that this expansion has been financed by rising health insurance costs that must be paid by firms and workers in other industries who both suffered during the 2000s recession.

“So, financing the continual growth in Health Services employment and earnings remains an unsolved dilemma in Ohio.

The report cited job growth in parts of the state.

Thirty-two Ohio counties that experienced employment growth between 2000 and 2007 were heavily

dominated by suburban counties at the fringes of urban areas and included Delaware, Warren, Clermont, Butler, Fairfield, Green, Union, Medina, and Fayette counties.

They all generated double-digit employment percentage increases during the seven year period. With the single exception of Fayette, all of these nine counties are suburban counties adjacent to Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton.

Zeller pointed out that as the statewide employment base of Ohio contracted, sprawl development created healthy employment growth in these suburban counties. Employment levels grew in all nine of these counties in 2007 relative to 2006, even as the state lost jobs during that one year period.

Also, major exceptions to employment losses were found in management of companies and enterprises, health care and social assistance, and educational services.

Each of those industries registered double-digit percentage employment growth even during the recession as overall employment levels declined.

“The growth in educational services is somewhat misleading, since it is dominated by a large expansion of private charter schools.

Cuyahoga County remains Ohio’s largest county, and it still contains more jobs than any other Ohio county. Consequently, the impact of the 2000s recession in Ohio can be clearly seen within Cuyahoga County.

But for this area of the state, the report said, “Aggregate real earnings losses in Northeast Ohio were more severe on a relative basis when compared to the rest of Ohio. Nearly three-fourths of Ohio’s net losses in aggregate real earnings were concentrated in northeast Ohio.”

To view the entire report, visit: www.nacs.net/~georgez/qew0307.pdf

Larry Shields can be reached at lshields@salemnews.net