Watching Employment, Trending Positive

November's unemployment numbers are out for counties in Ohio.  Look for news reports today that Licking County's rate, though below Ohio's and the nation's unemployment rate, is seemingly stalled at 9%.

I, however, prefer to watch employment as a barometer of recovery than unemployment.  The numbers I track are also reported in the LMI Division's report but rarely see the spotlight that unemployment rates get.  Here's my personal tracker chart of employment:

2010 Monthly Employment Numbers for Licking County

Here's what the employment stats bring to bear:

• Yes, Licking County's unemployment rate remained the same level this month.  However, that's more because the workforce size has grown.  More people are actively seeking work.  
• Employment went up to 76,600 people employed, a gain of 200 people over last month.
• Indeed, employment has remained above 76,000 people for seven straight months.
• The data shows 2,700 more people are in the employment column than were in that column in January of this year.
• Eight of the past 10 months have seen rises in employment.

Many, many people are still hurting. Any recovery still has some recovering to do for sure to get back to numbers that allow us to feel like we have a good economy again. However, there's reasons to be upbeat when one looks at the employment numbers.