Columbus Economy February 2022

Columbus economy February 2022

The Columbus economy in February 2022 continued its slow recovery from the Covid pandemic crash of 2020. Let’s break it down.

Overall Metro Area February 2022 and Change from February 2021
Labor Force: 1,126,967 +9,435
Employed: 1,085,393 +27,948
Unemployed: 41,574 -18,513
Unemployment Rate: 3.7% -1.7
Total Non-Farm Jobs: 1,102,000 +25,400

Overall Metro Area February 2022 and Change from February 2020 (Pre-Pandemic)
Labor Force: 1,126,967 +10,719
Employed: 1,085,393 +13,820
Unemployed: 41,574 -3,101
Unemployment Rate: 3.7% -0.3
Total Non-Farm Jobs: 1,102,000 -9,400
In most categories, the metro area overall has fully recovered to levels just before the pandemic crash- and has improved upon most metrics. Non-farm jobs is the only area that has not yet fully recovered.

Now let’s view the results by industry.

Mining/Logging/Construction
2/2020———–2/2021———-2/2022

42,500————41,000———44,400
The construction industry (Columbus doesn’t have a significant mining or logging industry) has surpassed pre-Covid levels.

Manufacturing
2/2020———–2/2021———-2/2022

73,000———–71,700———-72,600
Manufacturing hasn’t fully recovered, but appears likely to within the next few months.

Trade/Transportation/Utilities
2/2020———–2/2021———-2/2022

215,600———-222,800———234,900
This industry has gone well past pre-pandemic levels is one of the strongest performing in the metro area.

Information
2/2020———–2/2021———-2/2022

16,500———–15,200———-16,500
Information has fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but only just. It remains to be seen how much further it will improve as the industry had been losing jobs steadily since the end of 2018.

Financial Activities
2/2020———–2/2021———-2/2022

85,900———–85,000———-84,600
Unlike other industries, financial activities did not drop significantly during the crash. It did fully recover all lost jobs by November of 2021, but has slid some since.

Professional and Business Services
2/2020———–2/2021———-2/2022
178,800———-176,500———175,400
As with the Financial Activities sector, this industry did fully recover by the fall of 2021, but is now lagging a bit.

Education and Health Services
2/2020———–2/2021———-2/2022

165,100———-158,500———159,700
Although recovering slowly and ahead of last year, this industry has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. Part of the reason for this may have been the mass resignations within the health industry due to burnout from stress.

Leisure and Hospitality
2/2020———–2/2021———-2/2022
106,800———-87,200———-96,500
This industry was arguably hit the hardest of any during the pandemic crash (jobs fell by nearly 50%), and in many cases has struggled to fill existing jobs as the economy has improved. Still, trends suggest that the industry will be fully recovered by this summer.

Other Services
2/2020———–2/2021———-2/2022

41,900———–38,800———-40,400
Another industry that will likely be fully recovered by summer or early fall.

Government
2/2020———–2/2021———-2/2022

185,300———-179,900———177,000
As the state capital, Columbus has always been heavy in this industry. However, for whatever reason, government jobs just haven’t been coming back as much and may not recover fully until sometime next year.

While the overall metro has largely recovered, several industries have not. However, most are trending towards passing pre-pandemic levels by this summer- barring any other economic problems from Covid or global events.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the source of this data, is useful for local employment data for any metro area in the United States.



2012 Annual Jobs Data



2012 annual jobs data

Columbus City
Civilian Labor Force January 2012: 422,500
Civilian Labor Force December 2012: 426,600
Yearly Change: +4,100
Employment January 2012: 392,700
Employment December 2012: 403,800
Yearly Change: +11,100
Unemployment January 2012: 29,800
Unemployment December 2012: 22,700
Yearly Change: -7,100
Unemployment Rate January 2012: 7.1%
Unemployment Rate December 2012: 5.3%
Yearly Change: -1.8%

Franklin County
Civilian Labor Force January 2012: 617,700
Civilian Labor Force December 2012: 623,900
Yearly Change: +6,200
Employment January 2012: 574,400
Employment December 2012: 590,600
Yearly Change: +16,200
Unemployment January 2012: 43,300
Unemployment December 2012: 33,300
Yearly Change: -10,000
Unemployment Rate January 2012: 7.0%
Unemployment Rate December 2012: 5.3%
Yearly Change: -1.7%

City and County numbers are rounded.

Columbus Metro Area
Civilian Labor Force January 2012: 949,737
Civilian Labor Force December 2012: 958,689
Yearly Change: +8,952
Employment January 2012: 880,680
Employment December 2012: 906,886
Yearly Change: +26,206
Unemployment January 2012: 69,057
Unemployment December 2012: 51,803
Yearly Change: -17,254
Unemployment Rate January 2012: 7.3%
Unemployment Rate December 2012: 5.4%
Yearly Change: -1.9%

Metro Area Continued
Non-Farm Jobs January 2012: 927,300
Non-Farm Jobs December 2012: 962,300
Yearly Change: +35,000

Metro Yearly Jobs Changes by Industry
Mining/Logging/Construction: +2,400
Manufacturing: +1,300
Trade/Transportation/Utilities: +10,700
Information: -100
Financial Activities: +1,800
Professional and Business Services: +4,400
Education and Health Services: +5,700
Leisure and Hospitality: +6,100
Other Services: +700
Government: +2,000

Ohio Overall
Civilian Labor Force January 2012: 5,780,410
Civilian Labor Force December 2012: 5,728,748
Yearly Change: -51,662
Employment January 2012: 5,339,657
Employment December 2012: 5,344,151
Yearly Change: +4,494
Employment January 2012: 440,753
Employment December 2012: 384,597
Yearly Change: -56,156
Unemployment Rate January 2012: 7.6%
Unemployment Rate December 2012: 6.7%
Yearly Change: -0.9%

Local employment data back to 1990 is at Columbus MSA Economy