Auto Manufacturing Jobs and Ohio Economy

Ohio has had some bumpy economic rides in the past as the auto industry has taken hits from Japanese Imports, high steel prices, wars, recessions, NAFTA and now robotics. These issues have caused complete boom and bust cycles for the automobile manufacturing sector in Ohio. When workers are laid off, then those high paying and generally union jobs slow the money flows in the other sectors, such as retail, professional services, banking, real estate, etc.

Who else loses in these issues? American's with high paying jobs who participate in the retail sectors; if no one is buying no one needs to be selling. Without these jobs many areas are rethinking things as 34% of the jobs are currently in the service sectors in Dayton. Akron much higher and weathering it's transition with about 64% private sector jobs coming from services. With the new Cobalt Car being built in Warren, Oh we see a staving off of total catastrophe in Youngstown and it helps the suburbs of Akron and the Kent University areas too. We do agree of the potential involved there; there can be no doubt.
As the auto sector re-positions itself we will see a new strengthened economic cycle in Ohio, but the manufacturing jobs are key to the transition, because most of their economy has been auto manufacturer driven for the better part of 6 decades.