Ohio spends billions to create jobs. Economists say the lack of jobs is making people leave [View all]

[RandySF]

Once a political and economic powerhouse, Ohio is now expected to lose 675,000 people by 2050, according to the state Department of Development. That’s due to a lack of sufficient job opportunities, an overwhelming majority of economists said in a recent survey.

The bad news comes after more than a decade during which state Republican leaders handed out billions in tax breaks and other incentives heavily tilted toward the wealthy on promises they would create jobs.

Currently the seventh-most populous state, Ohio is expected to be surpassed in population by Georgia and North Carolina around 2030, according to the Department of Development report, which was issued last year

A 2022 report by the Greater Ohio Policy Center said that the state labor force declined by 91,000 between 2000 and 2020 — a pretty good indicator that a weak job market has been to blame for the Buckeye State’s slowing population growth.



https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/01/09/ohio-spends-billions-to-create-jobs-economists-say-the-lack-of-jobs-is-making-people-leave/