BSERGENT@MYDAILYSENTINEL.COM

POMEROY — The latest unemployment numbers from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reveal Meigs County’s unemployment rate is the second highest in the state, with unemployment down slightly in neighboring Gallia County.

Meigs County had an unemployment rate of 14.2 percent in June and came in just behind Pike County which had the highest unemployment in the state at 15.4 percent. The unemployment rate for Meigs jumped from 12.7 percent in May to 14.2 in June. Other counties with unemployment rates at or above 12 percent during June, in addition to Pike and Meigs, were: Clinton, 14.1 percent; Highland, 13.4 percent; Adams, 13 percent; Morgan and Noble, 12.7 percent; Crawford, 12.6 percent; Scioto, 12.5 percent; Muskingum, 12.2 percent; and Vinton and Coshocton, 12 percent.

According to ODJFS, Gallia County had an unemployment rate of 10.1 percent, down slightly from May’s 10.2 percent rate of unemployment. Other unemployment rates in June for neighboring/nearby counties were: Jackson, 11.5 percent; Vinton, 12 percent; Athens, 9.8 percent. Unemployment rates for counties containing larger, more metropolitan areas were: Franklin, 8.2 percent, Hamilton, 9.1 percent, Cuyahoga, 8.8 percent.

Delaware, Geauga and Mercer Counties had the lowest unemployment rates in the state for June at 6.6 percent. Seven counties had unemployment rates below 8 percent in June (other than Delaware, Geauga, and Mercer) and were: Holmes, 6.8 percent; Medina, 7 percent; Lake, 7.4 percent; Erie, 7.7 percent.

Meigs was certainly not alone in counties which saw unemployment rates rise in June with 84 of the 88 counties seeing increases, raising the state’s overall unemployment rate to 8.8 percent - it was 8.6 percent in May. Unemployment even rose in those counties with the lowest unemployment rate in June - Delaware and Mercer Counties went from 5.9 percent in May to 6.6 percent in June, as reported above. According to ODJFS, the number of workers unemployed in Ohio in June was 517,000, up from 508,000 in May. The number of unemployed has decreased by 78,000 in the past 12 months from 595,000. The June unemployment rate for Ohio was down from 10.1 percent in June 2010.

Ohio’s unemployment rate for June was still lower than the US Unemployment rate for June which was 9.2 percent, up from 9.1 percent in May.