Staff report

Mahoning Valley’s employment numbers readjusted slightly following a bleak January report, according to county and city figures released Tuesday.

Mahoning County improved three-tenths of a percentage point with a 6.2% unemployment rate in February, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said. Trumbull County went from 7% in January to 6.6% unemployment.

However, they are among the counties with the highest unemployment rates statewide for the month. Both dropping two spots from the previous month, Trumbull is ranked 11th and Mahoning 15th.

Mahoning added 1,000 workers during the period. Out of a workforce totaling 104,100 in February, 6,500 were unemployed. Since 1990, state records show the county’s lowest unemployment rate at 4.2% in 2023. The highest was 20.2% in 2020.

Eight hundred workers joined Trumbull County’s employment rolls in February. Its 6.6% unemployment rate featured 5,900 out of work. Trumbull’s labor force was 88,800.

The county’s roughest unemployment period came in 2020 with 21.2% without work. In 2023, the jobless rate was 4.4%.

The Lake to River region posted a 5.4% annual unemployment rate in 2025, according to the latest numbers provided by the state. The area consists of Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties. The labor force features 283,200 workers.

Columbiana (5.4%) and Ashtabula (5.2%) were ranked 30th and 35th statewide in February’s unemployment rates.

The jobless rates in Youngstown and Warren lowered slightly from January to February. Youngstown posted a 7.9% rate in February (8.5% January and 6% December). Warren was at 8.8%, February; 9.4% January; and 8.5% December.

Youngstown saw 200 jobs added in February, compared to 100 for Trumbull.

Since 1990, Youngstown witnessed 18 years of double-digit unemployment annually. It reached 12.8% in 2020. During that time, Warren hit 10% or higher annual unemployment 15 times.

Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.2% in February, down from 4.3% in January.

Ohio’s nonagricultural wage and salary employment decreased 5,400 over the month, from a revised 5,673,900 in January to 5,668,500 in February.

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in February was 251,000, down from 255,000 in January 2026. The number of unemployed has decreased by 39,000 in the past 12 months from 290,000. The February unemployment rate for Ohio decreased 0.7 percentage points from 4.9% in February 2025.

The U.S. unemployment rate for February 2026 was 4.4%, up from 4.3% in January 2026 and up from 4.2% in February 2025.