Tue, Nov 24 2009
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Looking for the jobs Region’s job growth has trailed nation during past 18 years By CARL E. FEATHER - Lifestyle Editor - cfeather@starbeacon.comStar Beacon To pinpoint where the job growth has been in the county, one must turn to the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, a report that takes into consideration only those who work in the county. In 2006, the figures were 32,843 employed, only 27,674 of whom were working in the “private sector.”
In 2000 there were 35,431 employed, 30,126 of them in the private sector. Of the 2,588 jobs lost, 1,880 jobs were in manufacturing. Overall, the county lost 8.2 percent of its manufacturing jobs, while the state lost 16.4 percent. “Off the cuff, I would say your economy up there is doing better, but it’s really not,” says Bill LaFayette, economist with the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, who ran the Ashtabula County numbers for the Star Beacon. That’s because Ashtabula County’s job growth in nonmanufacturing sectors has been weak or nonexistent. LaFayette says overall employment levels in Ashtabula County fell 2.5 percent from 2005 to 2006 and dropped 2.1 percent from 2001 to 2006. The transportation and warehousing sector was the only one to post a significant gain, 24 percent, during the six-year period he studied. “It’s really interesting,” LaFayette said of the numbers. “I’m not seeing what I expected to see.” LaFayette says the county’s business services and educational services sectors took especially large hits between 2005 and 2006, down 14.8 percent and 19.6 percent, respectively. Information lost 5.2 percent of its workers, and accommodation and food services dropped 8.4 percent. Looking at the bigger picture, 2001 to 2006, real estate and leasing lost 28.4 percent and educational services 25.4 percent (jobs lost). With this shift has come a loss in earning power. Compared to national and state averages, per capita personal income also has been sliding downward in Ashtabula County. In 2000, the per capita personal income in Ashtabula County was $22,422, more than $7,000 below the national figure. Five years later, Ashtabula County per capita personal income had grown modestly to $25,632 but had fallen to nearly $9,000 below the national average. An analysis of Ashtabula County’s economy prepared by ecanned.com, which uses U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, shows the overall wages are 23.8 percent less than the state average, $36,666. Nationally, the industry average wage was $40,259; in Ashtabula County, it was $27,853. Overall, ecanned.com’s calculation of Ashtabula County industry wages from 2001 to 2006 shows a 14.1 percent increase, less than the growth in average industry wages for both Ohio and the nation. Good-paying jobs Certainly, there have been some bright spots and success stories in attracting industries to the area that pay living wages. Among those better paying employers are the Save-a-Lot Distribution Center in Saybrook Township. Save-a-Lot has been running display advertising in the Star Beacon for order selectors. The positions are advertised at $13.40 to $23.90 per hour. An employee at the distribution center refused to comment on how many applications that ad generated, and the corporate office refused to return multiple calls requesting information. Rick Selip, president of Grand River Rubber, says the average shop floor worker at his factory earns more than $50,000 annually. Selip says much is expected from those workers, however, who are motivated by both individual and team-based piece-work incentives. 
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