According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provisional estimates, in July 2003 the seasonally adjusted civilian labor force in Ohio numbered 5,895,900, with approximately 367,300 workers unemployed, yielding an unemployment rate of 6.2%, compared to the national average of 6.2% for the same period. Since the beginning of the BLS data series in 1978, the highest unemployment rate recorded was 13.8% in January 1983. The historical low was 3.6% in March 2001. In 2001, an estimated 4.7% of the labor force was employed in construction; 17.1% in manufacturing; 5.0% in transportation, communications, and public utilities; 20.5% in trade; 5.3% in finance, insurance, and real estate; 26.8% in services; 12.7% in government; and 1.6% in agriculture.
The first workers' organization in Ohio was formed by Dayton mechanics in 1811. The Ohio Federation of Labor was founded in 1884; the American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded in Columbus in 1886, and Ohio native William Green became president of the AFL in 1924. But it was not until the 1930s that labor unions in Ohio were formed on a large scale. In 1934, the United Rubber Workers began to organize workers in Akron; through a successful series of sit-down strikes at the city's rubber plants, the union grew to about 70,000 members by 1937. In that year, the United Steelworkers struck seven steel plants in the Youngstown area and won the right to bargain collectively for 50,000 steelworkers. The number of union members increased from about 25% of the state's non-farm employees in 1939 to 32% in 1980 when about 1.4 million workers belonged to labor organizations.
Progressive labor legislation in the state began in 1852 with laws regulating working hours for women and children and limiting men to a 10-hour workday. In 1890, Ohio became the first state to establish a public employment service. Subsequent labor legislation included a workers' compensation act in 1911 and child labor and minimum wage measures in the 1930s. In 1983, a law was passed giving public employees, other than police officers and fire fighters, a limited right to strike.
The US Department of Labor reported that in 2002, 858,000 of Ohio's 5,123,000 employed wage and salary workers were members of unions. This represented 16.7% of those so employed, down from 17.7% in 2001. The national average is 13.2%. In all, 918,000 workers (17.9%) were represented by unions. In addition to union members, this category includes workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union contract.