Toledo area jobless rate spikes - WICU12/WSEE Erie, PA News, Sports, Weather and Events

Lucas County's unemployment rate surged in January, but the number may not be as bad as it seems. The jobless rate was listed by the Office of Workforce Development at 9.6%  but that was without a seasonal adjustment.

That number is up from December's 7.6% unemployment rate.

In Toledo, the rate jumped from 8.2% in December to 10.3% in January.

But some big local companies are looking for sales help, drivers, managers and food servers.

Richard Tuggle spends several days a week on the computer at The Source, looking for a job.

It has been three years since he had a full-time job.  "It's real tough out here with the economy as it is," he told 13abc reporter Bill Hormann.  "I'm just fighting against a lot of competition."

At The Source alone, job hunters fill the desks searching the internet for help wanted ads.

And a new study finds more than half of all industries in the United States will *not hire* this year.

This comes as the automotive industry just finished restructuring and laying off.  Mike Vey, is the director of The Source.  He says this employment adjustment is typical.  "I think it's trickling down to some other industries where they're kind of streamlining a little bit to get a little more effective; a little more efficient."

But there is good news, in the Toledo area.  Jeep will hire more than a thousand workers, this year, and companies like Meijer,  Promedica, Owens Corning, Toys R U and Dollar General stores are all looking for help.

Justin Owens is looking for a cashier's job and she's encouraged at what may be available.  "Yeah, Meijers, all of those, Toys R Us, Owens, all of that."

In the Toledo metro area alone, there are 5,778 job openings.  But one lingering problem is the automatic budget cuts in Washington.

The Source will get less money for job training starting in July.  During the years of the economic stimulus, The Source received $7 million in job training money.  That has declined to $3 million, in 2012, and that number will drop next fiscal year, as well.  That will hurt job training abilities, says Vey. "We do a lot of on-the-job training and we'd have to cut that a little bit to be able to absorb the cuts in funding."

But Richard Tuggle isn't giving up.  He's working all day trying to find work that pays.  "I just keep going; if I don't, what else could I do?"

The local job numbers are not seasonally adjusted  so instead of a 9.6% jobless rate in Lucas County the adjusted number could be under 9%.   The same with Toledo.