Columbus Economy June 2022



Columbus economy June 2022

For the Columbus economy June 2022 report, we find the metro area continues to post generally positive numbers versus 2021 and 2020. The data comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Overall Metro Area June 2022 and Change from June 2021
Labor Force: 1,130,201 +7,231
Employed: 1,087,813 +24,480
Unemployed: 42,388 -17,249
Unemployment Rate: 3.8% -1.5
Total Non-Farm Jobs: 1,125,000 +26,400
Numbers improved versus a year prior across the board, though with relatively slow labor force growth.

Overall Metro Area June 2022 and Change from February 2020 (Pre-Pandemic)
Labor Force: 1,130,201 +9,397
Employed: 1,087,813 +10,973
Unemployed: 42,388 -1,576
Unemployment Rate: 3.8% -0.1
Total Non-Farm Jobs: 1,125,000 +13,600
The metro area continues to be above pre-pandemic levels on all measurements.

Now let’s view the results by industry.

Mining/Logging/Construction
6/2020———–6/2021———-6/2022

45,000————46,300———48,500
This industry has fully recovered from the pandemic and is the highest since at least 1990.

Manufacturing
6/2020———–6/2021———-6/2022

69,600———–72,400———-72,900
Manufacturing has recovered from the pandemic period, but isn’t growing nearly as fast as other industries.

Trade/Transportation/Utilities
6/2020———–6/2021———-6/2022

213,300———-222,500———239,800
Fully recovered, this industry is at all-time highs.

Information
6/2020———–6/2021———-6/2022

15,500———–15,600———-16,700
The pandemic didn’t affect this industry much, as it was already in a general decline since the late 1990s-early 2000s.

Financial Activities
6/2020———–6/2021———-6/2022

84,300———–84,700———-85,400
Numbers for this industry have kind of been all over the place in recent years, but seem to be mostly stagnant since around 2016, so the pandemic didn’t have a strong effect either way.

Professional and Business Services
6/2020———–6/2021———-6/2022
171,000———-179,400———179,900
As with the financial activities industry, this one has been rather stagnant since about 2015-2016.

Education and Health Services
6/2020———–6/2021———-6/2022

149,700———-158,800———158,600
Education and Health were hard hit during the pandemic, and while they have recovered most of their lost jobs, have been unable to date to push past pre-pandemic highs.

Leisure and Hospitality
6/2020———–6/2021———-6/2022
86,400———-100,500———-109,600
The hardest hit industry by far, it has recovered the vast majority of lost jobs, but still remains a bit below pre-pandemic levels.

Other Services
6/2020———–6/2021———-6/2022

35,800———–40,400———-42,000
This industry is basically recovered.

Government
6/2020———–6/2021———-6/2022

171,200———-177,000———171,600
Government jobs have struggled to recover, and 2022 is not moving in the right direction, though this may not have anything to do with the pandemic.

Columbus Economy May 2022



Columbus Economy May 2022

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.