Once again, unemployment numbers are worse than they appear...

While it's good, but useless PR for Strickland, Ohio's unemployment rate shrank 0.1% to 9.8%.

Unfortunately, the reasons why aren't exactly good.

In fact, the number of employed Ohioans shrank by nearly 8,000 and the labor force decreased by 2,000.

In other words, a big reason why the unemployment rate is shrinking is because there are less Ohioans in the workforce or looking for work.

In the past year, the labor force has decreased by 5,000. That means the total number dropping out this past month was 40% of Ohio's total for the past year. That's not a good way to go out.

Last month I wrote a post explaining why the labor force numbers are such a vitally important indicator of the state's well-being.

Check it out here.