Ohio employers added another 23,100 jobs in February, showing substantial growth in comparison to moderate monthly gains in 2024. Ohio’s unemployment rate rose to 4.7% in February, up 0.1 percentage points from January, while the national unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points to 4.1%. Inflation remains stubborn at 2.8% in February, down 0.2 percentage points from January’s rate.
The takeaway: Ohio showed strong job growth in February, after benchmarked data released earlier this month revealed stagnant job growth in 2024, compared to the original set of estimates released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS). Ohio employers added 23,100 jobs in February, up from an upwardly revised 5,658,000 jobs in January to 5,681,100 in February. Monthly numbers are preliminary and subject to revision. Though February’s gains point to positive signs for Ohio’s economy, unemployment remains a concern.
Ohio unemployment continues to climb, reaching levels that haven’t been seen since the latter half of 2021, when Ohio’s economy was still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic’s peak unemployment in April of 2020. In fact, aside from the pandemic recovery period, Ohio hasn’t seen an unemployment rate this high since November of 2017. This increase is in part due to a growing labor force, a positive for Ohio, but it still leaves the state with the 7th highest unemployment rate in the nation.
While Ohio’s job growth this month follows national trends, economists warn this may be “the calm before the storm,” pending more clarity around myriad proposals for sweeping federal spending cuts and the inflationary impacts of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
The numbers: Service providers represent most of Ohio’s job growth this month, adding 16,600 jobs in February, while public sector employment fell by 1,900. Goods producers added another 8,400 jobs, driven by gains in the construction industry (+8,200 jobs), with gains in nondurable goods manufacturing jobs (+1,300) slightly outpacing losses in durable goods manufacturing (-1,100). The transportation, warehousing and utilities sectors endured consistent losses starting in August of 2024 (-600 between August and September 2024), sharply declining from October through January (-6,700 jobs between October 2024 and January 2025).
“Small growth in transportation and utility industry jobs in February could signal the industry is beginning to stabilize,” said Molly Bryden, researcher with Policy Matters Ohio. “However, reversing broad losses that took place over the past several months may prove challenging as the Trump administration carries out its mass deportation agenda, considering immigrant workers represent 8% of the transportation and utilities industry – the highest share of immigrant workers across all industries in Ohio.”
Healthcare and social assistance providers added 4,700 jobs, compensating for losses in January (-2,800) and accounting for most of the growth in educational and health service jobs (+4,800).
“Although the healthcare and social assistance sectors saw substantial growth across the U.S., proposed cuts to federal Medicaid and public assistance spending could disrupt sectoral growth,” said Bryden. “Currently, the federal government provides 90% of Medicaid funding in Ohio. Due to uncertainty in the federal funding landscape, Ohio’s budget proposal includes trigger language that would strip coverage for 700,000 Ohioans on Medicaid Expansion – a key program for keeping Ohio healthy – if the federal funding share were to drop below current levels. Moreover, Medicaid cuts – along with cuts to other public benefits programs, like SNAP and utility bill assistance – could impact administering agencies’ budgets and provider payments, throwing the healthcare and social assistance sectors into disarray while exacerbating barriers to critical services.”
State government agencies led public sector losses in February, reporting 2,800 fewer jobs, slightly moderated by 1,100 jobs added in local government, while federal employment fell by 200.
“Turnover and mass layoffs corresponding with the administration change are beginning to emerge in public sector job trends, though we have yet to see the real impacts on Ohio’s labor force. It’s unclear why initial estimates show a steep drop in state government jobs this month. There’s still a lot of uncertainty around looming federal spending cuts and the scope of implications for the state budget,” said Bryden. “However, we may see further fluctuations within the state sector following Governor DeWine’s executive order for all state employees to return to the office full-time in March, mirroring federal mandates. We expect further contraction in federal government employment to accelerate in the coming months due to sweeping layoffs and funding cuts across federal agencies, with trickle-down effects for state and local government jobs.”
The household survey: The separate household survey showed the number of unemployed Ohioans increased by 6,000, as 8,000 jobseekers entered the labor market and the number of employed Ohioans increased by 2,000. Ohio’s unemployment continues to trend up, rising 0.1 percentage points to 4.7%. Nationwide, unemployment rose on par with Ohio’s, from 4.0% in January to 4.1% in February, though Ohio’s unemployment rate has been increasing at a faster rate over the past year – ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 percentage points higher than nationwide levels. The gap between Ohio’s and U.S. unemployment rate has grown in 2025, however, with Ohio’s rate exceeding the U.S. rate by 0.6 percentage points in both January and February.
“There is a deep need to connect Ohioans in the labor force to good jobs with family-sustaining wages,” said Bryden. “Monthly job growth doesn’t tell the whole story: Many Ohioans are feeling the effects of persistent inflation, and economic conditions have left Ohio employers unable to meet rising job demand among Ohio’s growing labor force. State lawmakers must address looming economic uncertainty faced by Ohio’s working families by fully funding the programs that enable our communities to thrive.”