The region has experienced a downward trend in unemployment rate over the last three years since a high of 5.8% in January 2021. Total employment stands at 1.16 million.
Cincinnati, Ohio (August 13, 2024) – The Cincinnati Regional Chamber’s Center for Research and Data has released its “Cincinnati Region Labor Market Analysis | Summer 2024” presented by First Financial Bank. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the current labor market dynamics in the Cincinnati region, defined as the 15-county Cincinnati OH-KY-IN Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which is centered on the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The report is an extensive analysis of data from the US Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Lightcast.
“I am encouraged by the trends we have observed in this report of low unemployment and high growth in several key industries,” said Brandon Rudd, Director of the Center for Research and Data. “At the Center for Research and Data, our goal is to provide actionable insights that help regional leaders, community partners, and policymakers make informed decisions around priorities like talent attraction, inclusive economic growth, and community-wide goals. I am confident the insights into our region’s labor market dynamics in this report deliver just that.”
The report includes many key data points, trends, findings, and takeaways on the Cincinnati region’s labor market, including:
- Through most of 2021 and 2022, the Cincinnati region had a tighter labor market than the country as a whole. However, since the second half of 2022, the labor markets have converged and the national and local unemployment rates have remained similar.
- Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cincinnati region has seen slower job growth than the country as a whole.
- Since January 2021, the United States has seen strong job growth on a monthly basis. In the Cincinnati region, the story has been more mixed, with months of strong growth paired with some months where the economy contracted. However, the labor force participation rate in the Cincinnati region has been consistently higher than the United States as a whole.
- The Cincinnati region’s largest industries by total employment are health care and social assistance, manufacturing, and government. Transportation and warehousing is the region’s fastest growing industry, adding over 16,000 jobs in the past 10 years. Drilling down to the subsector level, the region’s largest industry is general medical and surgical hospitals, while the fastest growing industry is general warehousing and storage.
- At the broad level, office and administrative support occupations make up the largest category of occupations within the Cincinnati region, while transportation and material moving occupations are the fastest growing, having added over 29,000 new jobs over a 10-year period. This represents a 33% increase.
- Within the Cincinnati region, office vacancy rates vary by submarket. The highest vacancy rate is in the I-71 Corridor North, at 26.4%. The lowest vacancy rate is among Class C office space in the Central Business District, with a 4.1% vacancy rate. Total office vacancy for the region was 17.6% in the fourth quarter of 2023, ranking near the middle of peer cities. The Q4 2023 industrial vacancy rate was 5.9%, also ranking near the middle of peer cities.
The report also features data on the top and fastest growing employments centers in the region, educational attainment by county, and migration across the region and specifically within Hamilton County.
To see how the Cincinnati region is positioned nationally against comparable peer regions based on 38 different performance indicators, please visit data.cincinnatichamber.com.
About the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber
The Cincinnati Regional Chamber is the premier business and civic organization dedicated to growing the vibrancy and economic prosperity of the Cincinnati region. To achieve its vision that Cincinnati is a growing, thriving region where everyone belongs, the Chamber seeks to grow our economy, grow our population, and grow our cultural vibrancy – with the foundation of a strong business community – to foster a welcoming environment for all. The Chamber’s membership offerings, signature leadership programs, government and regional advocacy efforts, community events such as BLINK and Oktoberfest as well as key partnerships with organizations like Cincinnati Experience, Cincinnati Compass, Cincinnati Minority Business Accelerator, and the Workforce Innovation Center lead the way in making that vision a reality. For more information, visit cincinnatichamber.com.
About the Center for Research and Data
The Cincinnati Chamber’s Center for Research and Data is an initiative to deliver data-driven analysis regarding vital regional indicators and outcomes. The Center helps regional leaders, community partners, and policymakers make informed decisions around priorities like talent attraction, inclusive economic growth, and communitywide
goals. We provide actionable insights to support the mission and vision of the Chamber.
Media Contact:
Amy Fitzgibbons, Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Cincinnati Regional Chamber afitzgibbons@cincinnatichamber.com | 513.579.3106
Brandon Rudd, Director of the Center for Research and Data, Cincinnati Regional Chamber
brudd@cincinnatichamber.com | 513.579.3176
