MOUNT VERNON — Knox County’s unemployment figures crept up three-tenths of a percent in November, according to Knox Department of Job & Family Services Director Roger Shooter, who delivered the news to the county commissioners Monday.
Previously at 6.2 percent, the new level of 6.5 percent was actually a lower increase than seen in much of the state of Ohio and the country in general, according to statistics from the state DJFS.
Knox’s rate now matches the national average of 6.5 percent unemployment, placing it in the upper tier of Ohio counties, those 30 counties with rates that match or go below the national average. Almost two-thirds of the state was showing higher figures.
The state average in November was 7 percent. The lowest unemployment rate in the state was in neighboring Delaware County, which is reporting 4.8 percent. Van Wert had the highest figure at 10.9 percent unemployment.
As reported previously in the News, these numbers do not catch all the people searching for jobs. Shooter said Opportunity Knox is seeing an average of 100 new people every day searching for work, a very large number. Among those people, according to Shooter, are not only unemployed people, but also actively employed people in need of additional work in order to make ends meet.
He said that in some cases even people with two jobs are looking for a third to keep their heads above water financially.
“It’s hard to find a job in this area right now,” Shooter said.
He noted that since Knox has Tier Two job search facilities, while surrounding rural counties only have Tier One services, Knox is seeing a number of out-of-county visitors to Opportunity Knox as well. It remains to be seen what effect the extension of unemployment benefits, which began this month, will have on upcoming figures. Shooter said this might cause a slight increase in the first two months of 2009.
