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TOLEDO, OHIO MSA | NOVEMBER 2018

Joel Elvery and Julianne Dunn

Toledo—Economic Situation Has Improved
The economic situation in the Toledo metro area has improved in recent months. The unemployment rate dropped 0.9 percentage points in the 12 months
that ended with August 2018, and gains in manufacturing employment are helping to fill the gap left by the closure of the Jeep Cherokee plant. Home price
growth has slowed but remains strong, and residential building permit issuance continues to increase. Households’ financial situations are holding steady, as
measured by the credit card delinquency rate and consumer debt per capita. Though the metro area suffers from a declining population and little change to
aggregate measures such as personal income per capita and GDP per capita, the economy appears to be firming up.

METRO AREA SNAPSHOT

Unemployment Rate
August 2018

One-year
change

Median Home Value

August 2018

One-year
change

Credit Card
Delinquency Rate

March
2018

One-year
change

2018:Q2
(percent)

(percentage points)

7.4

0.3

(percentage points)

Toledo

4.9

–0.9

$109,300

3.7

295

0.1

Ohio

4.6

–0.4

$132,900

5.1

5,403

0.9

7.0

0.3

United States

3.9

–0.5

$216,700

6.5

145,640

1.6

7.4

0.3

Percent
14
— Toledo
— Ohio
— United States

12
10
8

Recession

6
4
2
0
2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics/Haver Analytics.

At around $57,000, the Toledo metro area’s real GDP per capita has been
fairly flat since 2015.
Index, 2007=100
115
— Toledo
— Ohio
— United States

110
105

Recession

100
95
90
2007

2009

2011

2013

2015

Sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis/Haver Analytics.

2017

(thousands)

(percent)

One-year
change

(percent)

The Toledo metro area’s unemployment rate stabilized at 4.9 percent in
August 2018.

(percent)

Payroll Employment

‹ UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

After rising earlier in the year, the unemployment rate in the Toledo metro
area stabilized at 4.9 percent in August 2018; this is almost a full percentage
point (0.9 percentage points) lower than it was in August 2017. The size
of the labor force declined in all but one month of 2018. This situation can
cause the unemployment rate to rise if the number of unemployed people
stays the same because the unemployment rate is the number of unemployed
workers divided by the size of the labor force. It is encouraging that the metro
area has continued to see year-over-year unemployment rate declines despite
a declining number of workers in the labor force. In Ohio and the United
States, the unemployment rate has been declining, but the downward trend
seems to be slowing as the economy approaches full employment. Ohio’s
unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in August 2018, and that of the United
States was 3.9 percent.
‹ GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT

The Toledo metro area’s real GDP per capita has been largely flat since 2015,
with only small fluctuations in both population and real GDP. At $57,060,
the metro area’s GDP per capita is slightly higher than the state’s ($56,918),
but, in percentage terms, the metro area’s output per person has not grown
as much as the state’s average has since 2007. This shows that the metro area
remains highly productive, but its productivity has not grown in recent years.
Most likely, the metro area’s slow productivity growth is due to the fact that
manufacturing continues to be a large share of the metro area’s output and,
nationally, manufacturing productivity has been fairly stagnant since 2010.
Since before the recession, the metro area’s GDP per capita has grown
7.1 percent, the state’s GDP per capita has grown 9.9 percent, and the nation’s
GDP per capita has grown 4.7 percent.

TOLEDO, OHIO MSA

FOURTH DISTRICT METRO MIX
YOUR DIS TRICT, YOUR DATA

NOVEMBER 2018

Employment in the Toledo metro area has been slowly but steadily increasing
since April 2017.

EMPLOYMENT AND INDUSTRIAL SECTORS
‹ EMPLOYMENT

Index, 2007:M12=100
110

After employment in the Toledo metro area declined following the closure
of the Jeep Cherokee plant in April 2017, it has steadily increased and was
0.1 percent higher in March 2018 than in March 2017. Though Toledo’s
employment growth has been slower than that in Ohio (0.9 percent) and
in the United States (1.6 percent), the metro area’s population has steadily
declined; this decline affects employment because it limits the number of
people available to work in the metro area.

— Toledo
—
— Ohio
—
— United States
—

105
100

■
■ Recession
Recession

95
90
85
2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

Manufacturing saw the strongest job growth (3.9 percent) of any sector in
the Toledo metro area during the 12 months that ended with March 2018.

‹ EMPLOYMENT GROWTH BY SECTOR

The manufacturing sector saw the strongest job growth (3.9 percent)
of any sector in the Toledo metro area during the 12 months that ended
with March 2018. Employment also increased in construction and
leisure and hospitality, and first-quarter gains in leisure and hospitality
were much stronger than in 2017. Professional and business services
showed a marked decline of 2.3 percent. This sector has seen
year-over-year declines in employment since April 2017. The trade,
transportation, and utilities and government sectors also saw declines
of 1.7 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Manufacturing
Construction
Leisure and hospitality

— Toledo
— Ohio
— United States

Financial activities
Education and health services
Government
Trade, transportation, and utilities
Professional and business services

–3

–2

–1
0
1
2
3
Year-over-year percent change

4

5

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

In March 2018 the Toledo metro area’s manufacturing sector saw its largest
year-over-year gain in two years.
‹ SECTOR EMPLOYMENT
Employment

12-month
change

Share of
employment

Trade, transportation, and utilities

54,391

–932

18.6

Education and health services

49,890

23

17.1

Manufacturing

45,653

1,706

15.6

Government

39,398

–208

13.5

Professional and business services

34,779

–832

11.9

Leisure and hospitality

32,515

607

11.1

Construction

12,524

276

4.3

Financial activities

9,707

93

3.3

Sector

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of CLEVELAND

The Toledo metro area’s manufacturing sector added 1,706 jobs
in the 12 months that ended with March 2018, the largest
year-over-year gain in this sector in two years. The sector remains
an important part of the metro area’s economy, accounting for
15.6 percent of the jobs there. Trade, transportation, and
utilities lost 932 jobs between March 2017 and March 2018,
with year-over-year declines during all 12 months. Professional
and business services lost 832 jobs during the same period.

TOLEDO, OHIO MSA

FOURTH DISTRICT METRO MIX
YOUR DIS TRICT, YOUR DATA

NOVEMBER 2018

INCOME
At $45,374, income per capita in the Toledo metro area trails that of the
state and the nation.
‹ I NCOME PER CAPITA

Thousands of dollars

	
The Toledo metro area’s per capita income growth slowed to

54
— Toledo
— Ohio
— United States

52
50
48

Recession

46
44

1.4 percent in 2016 after making strong gains in 2014 and 2015.
While some of the metro area’s increase in income per capita in 2016
was driven by a declining population, real personal income in the
metro area also grew 1.3 percent in 2016. At $45,374, income per
capita in the metro area remains below that in the state ($47,165)
and in the nation ($52,027).

42
40
2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

Sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis/Haver Analytics.

CONSUMER FINANCES
Since 2014, consumer debt per capita has remained low and been quite
stable in the Toledo metro area.
‹ CONSUMER DEBT

Thousands of dollars, four-quarter moving average
55
50

— Toledo
— Ohio
— United States

45
40

■ Recession

35
30
25
20
2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

 onsumer debt per capita has been quite stable in the Toledo metro
C
area, Ohio, and the United States since 2014. State and national
averages rose 1.7 percent, year-over-year, in the second quarter of
2018, but the metro area’s debt per capita rose just 0.7 percent—
or $168 to $24,642—during the same period. One reason the metro
area had less growth in debt is that growth in the median home
value—which has an impact on the average mortgage balance included
in consumer debt—has been lower in the metro area than in Ohio
or the United States. In all three regions, debt per capita remains low
compared to its level in the 2000s.

Sources: Authors’ calculations from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s
Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax.

After drifting upward in 2017, the credit card delinquency rate in the Toledo
metro area stabilized at 7.4 percent during the first two quarters of 2018.
Percent of credit card balances delinquent, four-quarter moving average
14
12

— Toledo
— Ohio
— United States

10
8

■ Recession

6
4

‹ CREDIT CARD DELINQUENCY RATE

After drifting upward in 2017, the credit card delinquency rate in the
Toledo metro area stabilized at 7.4 percent during the first two quarters
of 2018. In the second quarter, the rate was equal to that of the United
States, which has been increasing steadily during the past four quarters.
In Ohio, the credit card delinquency rate also increased slightly, to
7.0 percent, though it remains low compared to rates during the years
immediately following the Great Recession.

2
0
2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

Sources: Authors’ calculations from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s
Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax.

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of CLEVELAND

TOLEDO, OHIO MSA

FOURTH DISTRICT METRO MIX
YOUR DIS TRICT, YOUR DATA

NOVEMBER 2018

Year-over-year growth in the median home value slowed but remains strong
in the Toledo metro area.
Year-over-year percent change
10
5

— Toledo
— Ohio
— United States

0

■ Recession

–5
–10
2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

HOUSING MARKET
‹ HOUSING PRICES

Year-over-year growth in the median home value slowed in the Toledo
metro area, Ohio, and the United States in August 2018; however,
growth remains strong. In the metro area, the median home value
rose 3.7 percent, year over year, to $109,300. This value is consistent
with home values in late 2003, when the housing market was healthy
but hadn’t started to overheat, so a slowdown in growth is probably
appropriate. In Ohio, the median home value rose 5.1 percent, to
$132,900, while the national average rose 6.5 percent to $216,700.

2018

Sources: Zillow.com/Haver Analytics.

Building permit activity in the Toledo metro area has increased steadily since
August 2017.
‹ HOUSING PERMITS

Index, 2007:M12=100, 12-month moving average
140
120

— Toledo
— Ohio
— United States

100
80

■ Recession

60

Building permit activity in the Toledo metro area has increased steadily
in recent months. In August 2018, the 12-month moving average was
10 percent higher than in August 2017. By comparison, permit issuance
in Ohio has leveled off and was down 3 percent in August 2018
compared with a year earlier, while in the United States permit
issuance grew 5.8 percent in August 2018 over the previous year.
In fact, US permit issuance has nearly reached its December 2007 level.

40
20
2007

2009

2011

2013

2015

2017

Sources: US Census Bureau/Haver Analytics.

DEMOGRAPHICS AND EDUCATION
Toledo Metro Area

United States

			
Change from		
		
2016
2006
2016

Change from
2006

604,591

–1.6%

323,406,000

+8.4%

Adults with less than
a high school diploma

9.5%

–2.8 pp

12.5%

–3.4 pp

Adults with an undergraduate
degree or higher

27.1%

+4.1 pp

31.3%

+4.3 pp

37.3

+1.0

37.9

+1.5

$51,291

–9.0%

$60,531

–0.1%

Population

Median age (years)
Median household income

Note: Percentage points is abbreviated as pp.
Sources: US Census Bureau population estimates; American Community Survey.

‹ TOLEDO, OHIO

	
Between 2006 and 2016, the population of the Toledo metro area

declined by 1.6 percent. Overall, the population has become more
educated since 2006. The proportion of adults who have not finished
high school decreased by 2.8 percentage points, and the proportion who
have a bachelor’s degree or higher increased by 4.1 percentage points.
Residents of the metro area are slightly younger on average than those
of the nation as a whole, with a median age of 37.3. Median household
income has dropped significantly (–9.0 percent) during the 10-year
period; this is surprising given the share of households with income of
$100,000 or more rose from 14 percent in 2006 to 20 percent in 2016,
according to the American Community Survey. This combination of facts
suggests that the Toledo metro area has experienced income polarization,
with a decline in the share of households with “middle-class” incomes.

Joel Elvery is a policy economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Julianne Dunn is a research analyst at the Bank. The authors thank economic analyst Christopher Vecchio for
preparing the charts.
All monthly and quarterly figures are seasonally adjusted, and all dollar figures are in constant dollars, for which the base period is provided by the latest available data. Home prices are an
exception, and they are not adjusted for inflation. Where applicable, these adjustments are made prior to calculating percent changes or indexes. Several charts use indexed measures to
facilitate comparisons across regions and have a reference line at 100. These numbers can be thought of as the percentages of prerecession levels. If levels were growing before the recession,
prerecession indexes will be below 100; if levels were falling before the recession, prerecession indexes will be above 100.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, including its branch offices in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, serves the Fourth Federal Reserve District (Ohio, western Pennsylvania, the northern
panhandle of West Virginia, and eastern Kentucky).
Explore more regional analyses like this Metro Mix, along with research, datasets, and the Beige Book, at www.clevelandfed.org/region.

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK of CLEVELAND