Report claims job growth is booming in Ohio so far in 2024
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – According to a new report released by economists at Nationwide, job creation in Ohio has had a significant boom so far in 2024. It said more than thousands of jobs have been added in the first quarter driving the state's economy.
Ben Ayers, a senior economist at Nationwide, said this is surpassing expectations.
“It mirrors what we are seeing at a national level. While early in the year we were worried that maybe we would see a recession this year, those fears are fading away,” Ayers said.
Ayers said much of the growth is happening in the service industry and construction industry. However, he said there are some that are struggling.
“Most of the growth has been on the services side. There's some pockets of growth to construction is doing pretty well. Manufacturing is one that has not done as well in Ohio over the past year and half people have shifted away from buying goods and or buying more services," Ayers said.
This news comes days after a central Ohio based company, Express, announced it may lay off 600 employees and close their corporate office.
The company filed for bankruptcy Monday. A spokesperson for the company sent a statement which reads in part: “We are required to provide notification under certain state and federal laws of possible job losses, even as we work to complete a sale of the company through a court-supervised process.”
NBC4 asked Ayers for his thoughts on the situation.
“Many businesses that are having trouble adapting to the new environment might be struggling. I think the good news is there's lots of job openings out there,” Ayers said.
Ayers said right now there are more job openings than unemployed workers. He said this is putting more money in workers pockets because employers are having to pay competitive wages.
“You know, yet again, that's that tight environment that we have right now, that if you want to find a worker, you're going to have to pay more for it. And by and large, we're seeing wage gains that are stronger than normal in most industries, and that will likely continue over this year and maybe even in the next year,” Ayers said.
Ayers said the only concerning thing he sees is some debt building in the low and middle class due to inflation. He said at this point it’s not reaching a truly negative level.