Ohio Releases New Metro Employment Forecasts

The State of Ohio recently released its new 2000-2010 employment forecasts for the state's metro areas. The news for some regions, especially Toledo, is not so good. Here are some clips from a recent Toledo Blade article on the Toledo growth forecast.

Job growth in metro Toledo through 2010 will be the slowest of Ohio’s top six cities, with declines in manufacturing and most gains occurring in the service sector, according to a state forecast released yesterday.

The local labor market is expected to grow by 28,480 jobs, or 8.4 percent, to 369,100 by 2010, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services predicted.

Metro Columbus is expected to see an increase twice as large. Forecasts for Cincinnati, Akron, and Cleveland all anticipate increases of more than 10 percent. Among Ohio’s 11 largest metro areas, only Youngstown-Warren and Mansfield are forecast to have weaker job growth than Toledo through the end of the decade.

Go here to read more.