Job market shows signs of improvement

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services says county due for uptick.

Joan Frost knew the job market wasn’t good when she couldn’t even get a job at McDonald’s with prior experience.

The 56-year-old Monroe resident said she was left with few options and mounting bills after losing her job at Garden Manor Extended Care Center in Middletown. After being rejected for a job at the local McDonald’s, she settled for a part-time job as a companion sitter for Visiting Angels of West Chester Twp. The $9.33 an hour is enough to pay her mortgage and car payment, but Frost said she has no frivolities such as phone service or cable and no health insurance.

And when her client doesn’t need her to watch over her anymore, it could be months before Frost lands another sitting job.

“I’ve cut everything and save everything I can so I don’t have to go into any more debt,” Frost said. “At this point I am just trying to survive.”

The good news for workers like Frost is jobs could be headed back to the Butler County area this spring, according to data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

The Cincinnati-Middletown Metropolitan Statistical Area’s leading indicator index rose 0.4 percent in January to 96.0, which points to higher employment this spring, according to the agency.

The job prospects are even better nationally, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the nation added 162,000 net jobs in March 2010. That’s the largest increase in employment in three years. It also was well in excess of the long-term average employment gain of 100,000 jobs month to month over the past 20 years, according to the report released Friday, April 2.

Frost said she just hopes her finances hold out until improvement arrives.

“Even my boss said there is nothing out there full-time,” she said. “I found work, but ... are you going to find work you can live on?”

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com

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