Columbus Region’s Unemployment Rate Continues to Decline in Q3

Columbus, OH – Unemployment rates in the Columbus Region continued to decline in the third quarter, falling to 4.4 percent—well below September state and national rates of 5.6 and 5.9, respectively, according to the Q3 economic update report produced by Columbus 2020. The report also looked at demographic numbers for the Region, reporting a 3.2 growth in population from April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013, compared to U.S. growth of 2.4 percent and Ohio growth of 0.3 percent during the same period.

The report found a greater percentage of Columbus Region residents were employed in relationship to nationwide and state levels. On average, 61.9 percent of Columbus Region adults were employed, while 57.5 percent of residents in the U.S. and Ohio had jobs.

“The Columbus Region has excelled during the economic recovery like few other large U.S. metropolitan areas,” said George Mokrzan, director of economics, Huntington Trust and Huntington National Bank. “The Columbus Region’s unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been since December 2001, and it’s also the fifth lowest unemployment rate of all metropolitan areas in the nation with more than 1 million residents.”

Other key findings from the Q3 economic update report include: