'Kasich Economy' Taking Ohio in the Wrong Direction
The state jobs report for Sept. and Oct. was released today, highlighting a troubling trend of growing joblessness in Ohio. 427,000 Ohioans are out of work, making Ohio’s unemployment rate – 7.5 percent – higher than the national average. Ohio’s unemployment rate is the highest it’s been since Feb. 2012.
“Our economic recovery has come to a grinding halt as Gov. Kasich’s trickle-down economic policies continue to take effect,” said House Democratic Leader Tracy Maxwell Heard (D-Columbus). “This is the 7th time the unemployment rate has increased under Kasich since he inherited 10 straight months of declining unemployment. Tax cuts for the richest Ohioans simply do not create jobs.”
Ohio’s economy has stalled over the last year, and in recent months, layoffs have been announced from companies like Ormet, Lockheed Martin, Chase, Bank of America, Volvo, Meijer, Ben Venue Labs and others. Questions have also been raised about the effectiveness of Gov. Kasich’s controversial economic development program known as JobsOhio.
“Relative to the national unemployment rate, Ohio is worse off now than before Gov. Kasich was elected. We’re moving in the wrong direction,” Leader Heard added.
Under the direction of JobsOhio and Gov. Kasich, there have been months when Ohio has led the nation in job loss. Over the past year, at least two studies have found Ohio trailing the nation in job creation, ranking the state 44th and 47th.