Ohio: The Job Loss State

Most Buckeyes I know are not happy about having the Presidential candidates characterize Ohio in these words.

But...that's the message some economic development officials are worried is being broadcast to business executives, courtesy of the state's high-profile role in the presidential campaign.

Virtually every day, someone in the Kerry campaign or its allied groups blare the fact that Ohio has lost more than 200,000 jobs in the past four years. It's the message in the Kerry campaign's latest TV ad. The Bush campaign says Ohio's economy had been hurting but is recovering.
The statistics aren't in dispute. The repercussions are.

"The concern is it's almost become a clichÈ now -- Ohio, Rust Belt State," said Linda Siefkas, senior vice president for business advocacy at the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce.
That makes Ohio less appealing to business leaders thinking of new places to set up shop, she said. Ohio's regional economies are so diverse -- with Cincinnati and Columbus far different from, say, Youngstown -- that the campaigning sends an inaccurate image of the state.

More here.