Press Release Archive: 2010 | 2009 | 2008

Columbus Chamber Reports First Quarter Employment Stable

For Immediate Release:
May 17, 2010

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Employment in the Columbus Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA – Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Pickaway, and Union Counties) remained nearly unchanged during the first quarter of 2010 with a net increase of 100 positions, according to the Columbus Chamber’s analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic data. Ohio and U.S. employment both increased 0.1
percent.

“The employment stability that emerged in the first quarter is encouraging and better than predicted,” said Bill LaFayette, Ph.D., vice president, economic analysis, Columbus Chamber. “I continue to expect the employment growth rate in total and in many sectors to strengthen as the year continues.”

The region’s seasonally-adjusted March unemployment rate was 9.8 percent, up from 9.1 percent in December and 8.1 percent in March 2009. The March rate was higher than the 9.7 percent national average, but lower than Ohio’s 11.0 percent. The increase in the local rate was due to a strong increase in the number of active job-seekers.

In analyzing employment by sectors, the Chamber found professional and business services strengthened markedly. Transportation was also stronger than average, which is an indication of increased demand for goods. The Columbus region is recognized internationally for its logistics infrastructure.

Employment in nearly all other sectors declined – most by proportionally more than at the national level. Declines were particularly severe in financial activities, information, and construction.

Of Ohio’s six large MSAs, Cleveland, Dayton, and Toledo experienced employment growth during the first quarter-- better than both Columbus and the U.S. average. However, the Columbus MSA’s employment losses since the beginning of the recession continued to be proportionally less than those of the other five MSAs as well as the U.S.

U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) gained an annualized 3.2 percent during the first quarter, in line with economists’ expectations. The consensus of economists surveyed in the monthly Wall Street Journal poll is that growth will continue close to this rate through the year. The forecast expects U.S. employment growth to average 160,000 jobs per month, with a slight decline in the unemployment
rate to 9.3 percent by December.

Also last quarter, revised employment estimates published for 2009 revealed employment declines much worse than originally reported: 32,100 jobs (3.4 percent) rather than the originally estimated loss of 17,300 jobs (1.8 percent). Although this was still better than the national average, it was the worst regional employment decline in nearly 50 years of statistics. Estimates for 2008 were also revised downward.

A detailed report summarizing these findings and a chartbook showing employment trends in more than 20 individual sectors of the local, state, and national economies are available at http://www.columbus.org/media-center/publications.php#columbus

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The Columbus Chamber leads and supports economic growth and development in the Greater Columbus community. It supports a membership of 2,500 businesses. For more information, visit www.columbus.org.