DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — So far, Ohio has been ringing in the 21st century with the thud of factory doors closing.

A new report released on Wednesday, Feb. 4, found that Ohio has lost 262,383 jobs since 2000 – nearly as many jobs as the 295,000 residents in the city of Toledo.

That loss represented 4.8 percent of the state's employment. The story was worse in manufacturing, particularly in the Dayton-Springfield area.

Ohio has lost 218,453 manufacturing jobs since 2001, 22.6 percent of the state's total seven years ago.

Montgomery County and the Dayton-Springfield area were hit harder than any other urban region, according to "Jobs and Earning Trends in Ohio Counties." Researcher George Zeller prepared the report for the Cuyahoga County government in Cleveland.

Montgomery County lost 41.5 percent of its manufacturing jobs during the past seven years while Clark County lost 38 percent of its manufacturing employment.

The job loss caused a huge drop in paycheck earnings for Ohioans.

Between 2000 and 2008, Ohio lost $12.04 billion in worker paychecks on an annualized basis. Montgomery County lost more than one-fifth of its payroll earnings,

More bad news — the report covered only through the second quarter of 2008 and the situation has worsened since then in the wake of the national recession.

"The resulting situation is clearly an economic emergency in Ohio," an e-mail released with the report said.