"As more and more positive numbers come in, it becomes clearer and clearer that the American economy is growing and creating jobs at an outstanding pace," said Pryce.
However, Ohio really hasn't been doing that well at all. According to the Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/content/business/daily/0904working.html Ohio has experienced job loss and lower wages, among other things. It is true that there might be job growth somewhere else, but it isn't happening here. The following information was found in a report "State of Working Ohio 2005" by Policy Matters Ohio:
• In 2004 median household income in Ohio fell for the second straight year, while median hourly wages declined for the fourth straight year. (The study said median income, or the midpoint in a sample, is a more valuable measure than average income, which could be distorted by especially high incomes for some workers.)
• Higher education levels in Ohio have jumped by 65 percent since 1979 when 14.7 percent of all adults and 7.3 percent of black adults had completed four years of college. By 2004 the rate for all adult Ohioans was 24.6 percent and for black adults, 16.4 percent. Ohio trails the 2004 national rates, 27.7 percent for all adults and 17.6 percent for black adults. In 1979 the national rates were 16.4 percent for all adults and 7.9 percent for black adults.
• As of July, the number of jobs in Ohio remained 156,900 — or 2.8 percent — below where it was when the last recession began in March 2001, making Ohio one of 15 states that has had a net job loss since then. Ohio ranked behind only Michigan, Massachusetts and Illinois in percentage of job losses during that time.
• Ohio lost 19.2 percent of its manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2004. The nation experienced a 2.3 percent increase in jobs outside the manufacturing sector. Ohio had a 0.4 percent loss in non-manufacturing jobs.
• The median white worker in Ohio earns 19 percent more than the median black worker in the state, nearly double the 10 percent gap in 1979."
In summary, the words used to describe job growth in Ohio are below, loss, decline, behind, and fell. These are not positive words. Rep. Pryce needs to deal with what is really going on in Ohio.
