Ohio's unemployment turned sharply downward in November. The state jobless rate stood at 8.5 percent, down a half-percent from October's 9 percent figure. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reports Ohio's nonfarm wage and salary employment increased 6,000 over the month from 5,107,500 in October to 5,1113,500 in November. The number of unemployed has dropped by 30,000. Job and Family Services Spokesman Ben Johnson says that figure could reflect the number of people who have stopped searching for a job. The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in November was 496,000, down from 526,000 in October. The number of unemployed has decreased by 69,000 in the past 12 months from 565,000. The November unemployment rate for Ohio was down from 9.6 percent in November 2010. Service-providing industries were up 5,600 from October. The most significant jobs gains were in trade, transportation and utilities, government, financial activities and educational and health services. The only service sector losses were in leisure and hospitality and information. The U.S. unemployment rate for November was 8.6 percent.
Mike Thompson spends much of his time correcting people who mispronounce the name of his hometown – Worcester, Massachusetts. Mike studied broadcast journalism at Syracuse University when he was not running in circles – as a distance runner on the SU track team.