Article originally published in the Columbus Dispatch, written by Dean Narciso
The Columbus region has led other major Midwest regions in jobs and wage growth, further supporting its reputation as an economic power, the Columbus Partnership is reporting.
The region added 11,977 jobs, from March, 2025 to March, 2026, an increase of 1.1%, according to newly released Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s more than 18 times the national growth rate of 0.06%, but about just about normal for a growing economy, according to experts.
Annual job growth rate of about 1.5% to 2% is generally considered healthy for the overall U.S. economy, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
But the U.S. economy had ups and downs in the past year and averaged just 0.06% job growth through March, according to the partnership based on the federal data.
Even so, says local economist Bill LaFayette, “It’s certainly better than what I predicted…. just looking at those numbers, we are certainly doing much, much better than the U.S…. in the context of the kind of soft economy we’re in now.”
LaFayette, owner of Regionomics, a strategic economics and workforce firm, has studied the results and found that manufacturing (1,000 new jobs) and professional business services (2,000) are leading sources in central Ohio.
Locally, data center construction and manufacturing continue to add jobs. Examples include PPG’s planned $280 million expansion of its paints and coatings plant in Delaware; Anduril Industries, the defense contractor near Rickenbacker International Airport, aims to add thousands of jobs for its autonomous aircraft plants. And Grandview Yard, the mixed-use development just northwest of Downtown has added 3,000 jobs as it nears its build out.