2012 Reds spring training
Purple Heart Way street signs
Miami vs. Akron
Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > May > 27 > Entry
Editorial: Ohio leading U.S. recovery? Come again?
An editorial here on May 11 noted that, while the national economy added jobs in March, Ohio did not get its share. Seems like Ohio is always — or, too often, anyway — someplace near the bottom of national economic rankings, at least as to the direction of things.
So it should be noted that in April, when jobs materialized faster than in March nationally, Ohio got more than its share.
Remember reading that the country added a promising 290,000 jobs in April? Well, it turns out that Ohio led the nation, with 37,000. That is, it had more new jobs even than much bigger states.
It was the state’s biggest jump in 22 years.
The point is made here not to suggest that happy days are here again. It’s made with an eye on that old Ohio trend of bringing up the rear.
In some measure, the recent good news for Ohio results from progress in the manufacturing and auto sectors. Nationally, April was the best month that manufacturing has seen in 12 years, in job growth: 44,000.
But that may not be the entire explanation. After all, the good news came from all across the state. Construction, tourism, engineering and accounting all added jobs. Montgomery County and Dayton saw their unemployment rates drop a little, from very high levels. The Cincinnati region — 15 counties stretching up through Warren County — added 14,000 jobs.
So why did Ohio lead?
Maybe, Ohio will benefit from the fact that it has fallen so far and stayed down for so long. Maybe it will spring back harder.
Anecdotal evidence suggests this. A national law firm moves its back-shop activities to Kettering, seeking low expenses in an attractive, well-located place. Local promoters and businesses point to the particularly low cost of housing, office space and manufacturing space.
Meanwhile, the availability of good workers who have lost their jobs — whether blue collar or white collar — is seen as an asset from some perspectives.
The strength of the national economy will matter a lot for Ohio. On that score, it’s best not to assume much, what with Wall Street in turmoil because Europe is in turmoil.
The current upswing — modest, but entailing four months of job growth — pretty much obviates a debate about the need for a new national stimulus (not to mention the fact that President Barack Obama would have great difficulty selling any major new spending plan). Now the work seems to be up to forces beyond the federal government.
Meanwhile, many of the most striking stats suggest only a limited role for state and local governments in shaping the current scene. Michigan continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 14 percent. That’s not the fault of anybody in government in Michigan. It’s about cars.
North Dakota has the lowest, at 3 percent; that’s not because there’s something in the snow that makes people smart about economics.
In Ohio, Clinton County has the highest unemployment rate of any county, at 17.7 percent. That’s about a decision made by DHL, not local or state government.
As for Ohio as a state, it has spent much of this era in the same boat as Michigan, or at least the same fleet. The latest numbers suggest that if the worst is over for that fleet, the recovery here need not lag behind, after all.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Economy, Editorials, Martin Gottlieb, Ohio government
Comments
By Max
May 28, 2010 12:42 PM | Link to this
There are separate, corrected job gain totals which include seasonal work and it’s unclear from this DDN editorial if those ‘short term’ jobs are included or excluded. The more important message here is the multi-faceted causes, effects, and solutions affecting employment in Ohio. Some of the thinking to ‘causes’ goes back to NAFTA. Even with another stimulus package it will still be the business sector which is tasked to come up with solutions while mitigating the effects. As noted by DDN, the effects are not really known at this point due to the Euro situation. This makes our dollar stronger only for those who have a dollar. I think it is way too early to feel good about these employment figures beyond a rest stop along a very long highway.
By Mike R
May 28, 2010 5:26 PM | Link to this
I wonder what Ellen and Martin believe Ohio’s “fair share” should be. They didn’t define what a fair or unfair share is. Being the authors of liberalism and entitlements at their best maybe those two could opine how a redistribution of jobs from the haves (Ohio) to the have-nots (Michigan) should take place. As a resident of Ohio I would like to see Ohio be the leader in an overall improving lot—I don’t believe that’s too much to expect considering the potential of our State. As far as jobs go, construction and tourism are seasonal jobs—jobs are added this time of year and positions are eliminated in the fall. Echoing what Max wrote, one data point (Ohio April Job Gains) does not make a trend. Also, these employment numbers can be quite volatile with sharp revisions occurring in later months. So, why exactly is Europe in turmoil? It is in turmoil ‘cause of sovereign debt concerns—in laymen’s terms—too big of government, or government spending. Just today—before this editorial was released—Spain was downgraded sending the Dow down again. Yes, DHL made the choice to close the Wilmington hub. Why? Why were they not competitive with UPS in Louisville, or FedEx in Memphis? Do those states have better tax incentives and economic packages to attract and retain such business than Ohio? Why is that Emery/CF couldn’t find success at Dayton Int’l, but could make a profit with a U.S. Postal contract in Indianapolis? Indy, Louisville, or Memphis don’t have smarter or harder working people than here in the Miami Valley. But, maybe those states have better and harder working politicians (and newspaper editors, whose job is to vet candidates) than we do in Ohio. And, don’t think we wont have another stimulus—there’s already talk of another—and potentially needed. Within the last several months the M3 money supply has contracted at the fastest clip since the Great Depression. The Fed no longer makes M3 info available, but pols in D.C. get that data and they’re freaked out by the numbers.
By Jilli
May 31, 2010 7:33 PM | Link to this
Perhaps Mr. Boehner should return home so he can see “where are the jobs”??!!!