J.R. Childress is up before the sun, bustling about in the French colonial brick house he built.Ohio unemployment continued to rise in May, and northwest Ohio counties were among those with the state’s worst joblessness, according to statistics released Tuesday.
Williams County again had Ohio’s highest unemployment rate. It was 17.1 percent in May, up from 16.3 percent in April and 5.9 percent in May 2008.
Defiance County saw the biggest jump in the region, to 16.1 percent in May from 13.5 percent in April and 5.8 percent in May 2008. It had the second-highest unemployment in May among Ohio’s 88 counties.
Van Wert County had Ohio’s fifth-worst unemployment – 15.2 percent in May. It was 15.1 percent in April and 7 percent in May 2008.
Paulding County’s May unemployment was 14.1 percent, a 0.7 percentage-point increase from April and 8.2 percentage points higher than in May 2008. That made for Ohio’s 11th-worst unemployment in May.
Ohio’s seasonally adjusted unemployment for May was 10.8 percent. Indiana’s was 10.6 percent, and the U.S. rate was 9.4 percent.
Lengthy shutdowns by bankrupt automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC are to blame for part of northwest Ohio’s unemployment.
“A lot of ours is because so many GM people are on layoff,” Defiance Mayor Bob Armstrong said.
Defiance is home to GM’s Defiance Foundry, which employs almost 1,300. Large segments of its workforce have been on layoff since early May.
But counties throughout the region depend heavily on companies that supply the auto industry, said Mayor Douglas Johnson of Bryan, the Williams County seat.
Chrysler’s assembly plants – including in nearby Toledo – have been on shutdown since it declared bankruptcy at the end of April. Faced with slumping car and truck sales, other automakers have slowed production, leading to fewer orders for suppliers.
“Most of the layoffs that have occurred here are in those businesses that revolve around the automotive industry and the housing industry,” Johnson said.
He explained that Williams County also is home to plants that make products for the construction industry, which has seen falling orders and increasing layoffs.
Johnson and Armstrong said they saw downturns coming when they drew up city budgets for the year and so far haven’t been forced to make additional cuts.
Most economists believe the national jobs picture won’t brighten until next year. Armstrong said things might begin to look up for Defiance by late July, when foundry workers are due to return and start making drivetrain products again.
Johnson said it’s going to take a more general improvement in the auto industry for large numbers to get back to work in Williams County.
