In Miami County, unemployment fell to 5.1 percent from 5.8 percent, and Greene County posted and unemployment rate of 4.8 percent last month, down from 5.5 percent in January.
The declining unemployment trend mirrors local forecasts for hiring.
According to Manpower’s Employment Outlook Survey, metro area employers expect to hire at a healthy pace over the next three months when 19 percent of those polled said they plan to hire more employees.
Only 5 percent plan to reduce payrolls, while 70 percent of employers expect to maintain current staff levels and 6 percent indicated they were not sure of their plans.
The figures yielded a “net employment outlook” of 14 percent — or the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity minus the percentage of employers expecting a decrease, according to Tom Maher, a spokesman for Manpower Dayton.
“Survey results show employers are equally confident about hiring plans compared to (the first quarter) when the net employment outlook was 14 percent,” Maher said. “Last year at this time, the hiring forecast was similar when the Outlook was 13 percent.”