Many economic indicators show Ohio's economy has recovered significantly since the Great Recession. Ohio received 10 billion dollars from the federal economic stimulus package to boost its economy. As many states were cutting state jobs, shelving big projects or refusing to accept the money, then-Governor Ted Strickland used almost all of the stimulus funds to keep public employees on the job and keep public projects on schedule. Strickland, a Democrat, tells Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles he has no regrets.
In 2013, fewer Ohioans filed unemployment insurance claims than any year since the turn of the century. Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich says after losing 350 thousand jobs between January 2007 and January 2011, Ohio has added more than 260 thousand private sector jobs, making the state 5th in the nation.
But a recent Baldwin Wallace University study shows Ohio has yet to regain the 120 thousand jobs it lost since December 2007. The study also shows during the past year and a half, Ohio's job growth rate is less than half that of the nation as a whole.