Unemployment rate holds at 4.5%
Today, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, in partnership with the Department of Labor, released job and unemployment indicators for December. Ohio employers added 3,500 jobs in December. Ohio’s unemployment held at 4.5%, while the U.S. rate ticked down 0.1 percentage points to 4.4%. Inflation hovered at 2.7%, no change from November.
The takeaway: Ohio saw meager job gains in December, as employers added 3,500 jobs – mirroring weak job growth nationally (+50,000). After briefly closing the gap between Ohio’s unemployment rate and the U.S. rate, Ohio’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.5%, as the U.S. rate dipped to 4.4% (following a downward revision of 0.1 percentage points to November’s national unemployment rate). Though inflation held steady at 2.7%, declining consumer confidence suggests increasing costs and inflation remain a concern for U.S. households, reinforcing broad economic uncertainty, a key theme throughout 2025.
Despite recent signals of an economic slowdown, Ohio saw stronger economic growth between December 2024 and December 2025, compared to the previous year – Ohio employers added 54,300 jobs in 2025, more than doubling 2024’s job gains (+24,500). Meanwhile, national job growth followed the opposite trend, with monthly job gains averaging at 49,000 in 2025, compared to 168,000 in 2024. These totals are preliminary estimates for annual job growth, and they will be revised and confirmed through the annual benchmarking process. The calendar for 2026 release dates is not yet available due to the lapse in BLS releases during the government shutdown. Given the disruption to data collection, the benchmark could bring large revisions.
“Although year-to-year trends offer a relatively optimistic outlook, Ohio’s economic growth has stalled in recent months, and important economic indicators – like the unemployment and labor force participation rates – continue to lag the U.S.,” said Molly Bryden, researcher with Policy Matters Ohio. “Sluggish economic growth could undermine the resilience of Ohio’s economy, especially if the minor improvements in employment and labor force growth prove to be a blip. The separate surveys comprising the monthly jobs report often produce a mixed bag; monitoring these trends over time is critical for understanding how Ohio’s economy is faring as the trend of economic uncertainty continues into 2026.”
The numbers: Seasonally adjusted data released today by the ODJFS show that Ohio employers added 3,500 jobs in December, from a downwardly revised 5,705,400 in November to 5,708,900 in December. Goods producers saw small gains (+700), driven by growth in construction jobs (+1,100) and the mining and logging industry (+100). Manufacturers reported small losses (-600), with 200 fewer durable goods manufacturing jobs and 400 fewer in nondurable goods manufacturing. Service providers added 2,200 jobs, concentrated in professional and business services (+2,200) and leisure and hospitality (+1,500). Gains in leisure and hospitality jobs were driven by arts, entertainment, and recreation service providers (+3,000), moderated by losses in accommodation and food service jobs (-1,500).
“The accommodation and food service sector saw steep losses overall in 2025, shedding 9,500 jobs in the past year,” said Bryden. “Uneven growth in the service industry overall implicates growing income inequality among working Ohioans. Employment in higher-paying professions in professional and business services grew by 13,100 in 2025, coinciding with the hiring slowdown for lower-wage jobs in accommodation and food services.
“The accommodation and food services sector is one of few service sectors that hasn’t made a full recovery since the COVID-19 pandemic, down 19,800 jobs since February of 2020. Losses in accommodation and food service jobs could indicate that rising prices have generated challenges for businesses to maintain hiring levels, along with lower demand for accommodation and food services among Ohio families, as inflation continues to strain household budgets. Persistent weakness in the accommodation and food service sector – an important economic driver – could have spillover effects, further stalling Ohio’s economic growth.”
Public sector employment increased by 600. Federal government jobs fell by 300, slightly moderating small gains in state and local government employment (+200 and +700, respectively).
The household survey: The separate household survey shows that 7,000 Ohioans gained employment, while the number of unemployed Ohioans decreased by 5,000 and the civilian labor force increased by 1,000 (those numbers don’t sum to 7,000 due to rounding). Ohio’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.5%, slightly higher than the national rate of 4.4%. There was no change in Ohio’s labor force participation rate, which held at 62.3% as the national employment to population rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 62.4%.
“Though the parity between Ohio’s unemployment rate and the U.S. rate was short-lived, Ohio’s unemployment rate remains well below its peak of 5.0% in July and August of 2025,” said Bryden. “As we’ve noted in previous reports, contractions in Ohio’s labor force (-24,000 between June and November of 2025) have largely driven the decline in unemployment that we’ve seen in recent months. However, Ohio’s labor force expanded slightly in December, with 23,000 more Ohioans either employed or actively seeking employment, compared to this time last year.”
“Amid the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to dismantle key supports for working families – like baseless claims of fraud in Ohio’s child care system, threats to workers’ collective bargaining rights, and cuts to social service programs – Ohio lawmakers must shift course to mitigate harms, rather than conforming to the administration’s anti-worker agenda. Drawing Ohioans back into the labor force through targeted investments in worker supports is critical to bolstering Ohio’s economy.”