· September 27, 2012

Ohio’s auto industry has added 17,315 jobs since rescue latest data say

The importance of Ohio’s auto industry to the state’s economy is underscored once again today as the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics quarterly census of employment and wage data shows 17,315 jobs added since the federal rescue. This being a political season – and the auto rescue being a political football – there has been much back and forth about just how much effect the rescue has had. Take a look at the chart below. The IO research staff has compiled and tracked the BLS since our first report on the importance of the auto rescue earlier this year. We look at the “direct jobs” in the ‘auto cluster’ in the following North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) groups:

• NAICS 336100 Motor Vehicle Manufacturing
• NAICS 336200 Motor Vehicle Body and Trailer Manufacturing
• NAICS 336300 Motor Vehicle Parts Manufacturing

GOP partisans are responsible for the confusion about auto industry job creation in Ohio since the rescue. Gov. John Kasich has purposefully low-balled the number as has the Columbus Dispatch. Here’s as unvarnished as we can make the truth: