The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland reports:
Ohio ’s unemployment rate had been declining through much of 2006. This downward trend halted in July with an increase in the unemployment rate of 0.7 percentage points—leaving the Ohio unemployment rate at 5.8%...
Is there anything in this news that should give us particular pause about the national employment outlook? Maybe not. We already knew from the national statistics that weak employment in the transportation sector was one of the key factors behind the weaker than expected growth in nonfarm payrolls in July. So it was in Ohio as well:
... in the case of Ohio in July, there is quite a lot of evidence pointing to a sharp increase in auto related layoffs.
... the counties which showed the largest increases in their unemployment rates are counties which have large auto assembly of parts supplier operations.
The state employment detail does not, therefore, appear to provide anything new to worry about. Unless, of course, your fortunes are tied to the auto industry.