“Just look around the community, you can feel the growth and feel the energy,” said Chris Kershner, president and CEO of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. “This is the strongest economic trajectory I have ever experienced in the Dayton region.”
The Dayton metro area created 1,900 new jobs in July (+0.5%) after producing 2,800 new jobs in June (+0.7%) and 1,200 in May (+0.3%), says preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that will be subject to revision. That’s 5,900 new jobs created since May.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
The metro area — which consists of Montgomery, Miami and Greene counties — had a net loss of 1,400 jobs through the first four months of this year, says seasonally adjusted survey data.
Last year was so-so, from a jobs perspective.
The Dayton region cut jobs or failed to create new ones in six of the 12 months. The total net job gains for the entire year was 4,400 new positions.
Last month, employment in the Dayton region increased to about 393,000 workers.
That job tally is higher than the recent, pre-COVID peak of February 2020 (392,500 workers).
Local payrolls haven’t been this size since June 2007, before the economy crashed and the housing bubble burst.
This is preliminary data that is subject to revision. It’s possible the local job growth is not as robust as these numbers suggest.
But the preliminary data suggest that Dayton region added nearly as many jobs in July as the entire state of Ohio did. The state created 2,200 new jobs last month.
Kershner, with the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, said local employers are hiring and there’s something “special” taking place.
He pointed out that Joby Aviation recently announced that production at its air taxi plant in Dayton should begin early next year.
The company hopes to employ about 2,200 local workers sometime down the line. Joby eventually hopes to scale up production so that it cranks out hundreds of aircraft each year.
Local leaders earlier this month celebrated Wright-Patterson Air Force Base reaching 38,000 employees “inside the fence.”
Employment at the base has doubled in the last 22 years, Kershner said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine visited Dayton on Monday to announce that state, local and private partners plan to invest about $95 million into an innovation hub.
A new facility is planned for the former Montgomery County Fairgrounds property as part of the OnMain redevelopment efforts. Officials say this planned investment could create around 2,000 jobs.
Last month, more Ohioans entered the workforce in the hopes of getting a job, which increased the state’s unemployment rate and the labor force participation rate, says the Buckeye Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank.
Ohio’s job market continues to grow slowly, said Rea Hederman Jr., vice president of policy at the Buckeye Institute.
The state has added nearly 40,000 jobs this year, and there was strong growth through June, until hiring slowing significantly in July, says Policy Matters Ohio, a liberal-leaning research organization.
Molly Bryden, researcher with Policy Matters Ohio, said inflation is at a three-year low. She said the Fed could help address the weakening job market by cutting interest rates.
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