Watching Employment (As It Goes Up)

The state published it's monthly unemployment rates today. Good news. The unemployment rate is down in Licking County.  It's still a dismal number, but its down.

However, I'm doing what economist Alan Beaulieu told me to do. I'm watching employment instead.

After all, if the unemployment rate went down but the number of people employed didn't go up, what is there to celebrate?

Good news prevails.   Employment rose.
 

Licking County employment hit the year's high at 77,100 people employed.  That's 3,200 more people working than were reported in January.

Still a ways to go to recovery, but there's reason to celebrate that employment has gained seven out of eight months in 2010.