Now hiring sign
For the Columbus economy May 2022 report, we will look for any signs that the local economy is being negatively affected by ongoing inflation and higher energy prices.
Overall Metro Area May 2022 and Change from May 2021
Labor Force: 1,132,871 +24,699
Employed: 1,100,438 +43,723
Unemployed: 32,433 -19,024
Unemployment Rate: 2.9% -1.7
Total Non-Farm Jobs: 1,123,200 +28,300
The 2.9% May unemployment rate for the Columbus metro remains one of the lowest in more than 30 years, and all metrics were better than they were a year ago.
Overall Metro Area May 2022 and Change from February 2020 (Pre-Pandemic)
Labor Force: 1,132,871 +12,067
Employed: 1,100,438 +23,598
Unemployed: 32,433 -11,531
Unemployment Rate: 2.9% -1.0
Total Non-Farm Jobs: 1,123,200 +11,800
The metro area has surpassed pre-pandemic data across the board.
Now let’s view the results by industry.
Mining/Logging/Construction
5/2020———–5/2021———-5/2022
43,200————45,700———47,500
This industry has fully recovered from the pandemic and continues to set new highs.
Manufacturing
5/2020———–5/2021———-5/2022
66,700———–71,900———-72,300
Although manufacturing has largely recovered from pandemic lows, it remains *well* below anytime before 2000.
Trade/Transportation/Utilities
5/2020———–5/2021———-5/2022
205,400———-221,000———238,000
This industry is at 30 year highs.
Information
5/2020———–5/2021———-5/2022
15,500———–15,600———-16,600
The industry has been in somewhat of a decline overall since the Dot.com boom of the late 1990s. It recovered most pandemic losses, but seems unlikely to do much better in the long run.
Financial Activities
5/2020———–5/2021———-5/2022
83,900———–84,500———-83,700
Financial activities jobs have declined slightly since recovering its pandemic losses.
Professional and Business Services
5/2020———–5/2021———-5/2022
166,500———-179,600———178,200
As with the financial activities industry, this industry initially recovered from the pandemic, but has stagnated a bit since then.
Education and Health Services
5/2020———–5/2021———-5/2022
145,600———-159,700———158,800
These industries have been somewhat stagnant as well since around October, 2020.
Leisure and Hospitality
5/2020———–5/2021———-5/2022
69,000———-97,200———-107,600
This industry was arguably hit the hardest of any during the pandemic crash, but have recovered fairly strongly since then. However, because the fall was so great, it has not completely come back to date.
Other Services
5/2020———–5/2021———-5/2022
32,800———–39,800———-41,500
This industry is on track for full recovery by late summer.
Government
5/2020———–5/2021———-5/2022
177,500———-179,900———179,000
Government jobs remain below where they were pre-pandemic, and have shown little movement either way.
Overall, the metro has recovered from the pandemic and most metrics are generally positive, but not all industries are doing equally well. There remains no sign of any impending downturn.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the source of this data, is useful for local employment data for any metro area in the United States.
