Ohio jobless rate declines to 10.3 pct in July

COLUMBUS, Ohio

Fewer Ohioans are out of work, causing the state's unemployment rate to fall a couple of notches to 10.3 percent in July.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said Friday that the rate went down from 10.5 percent in June as the number of workers unemployed in Ohio dropped from 625,000 to 614,000. The ranks of the state's unemployed have declined by 22,000 in the last 12 months.

Department spokesman Ben Johnson says school district and local government layoffs last month were outweighed by job gains in manufacturing, services and other private businesses.

The state's overall employment outside of farms rose by 1,800.

Ohio unemployment remains higher than the national rate, which was 9.5 percent in July.