Ohio's unemployment rate for April was 7.0 percent - down slightly from 7.1 percent in the two previous months.

State officials released the numbers this morning ahead of the newest statewide labor force data.

The rate has consistently remained below the national level. The U.S. unemployment rate for April was 7.5 percent.

The state's leaders have said Ohio's economy and its job market are getting stronger, though the process is slow.

Ohio's unemployment rate peaked at 10.6 percent during the last half of 2009 and early 2010 before beginning its trek downward.
 

Honda announced yesterday it will bring back its so-called “supercar” Acura NSX after suspending production in 2005. And the new high performance two-seater will be built in Ohio.

“We will renew the dream and build this high-tech supercar right here in Marysville, Ohio," says Honda executive, Hidenobu Iwata

Hundreds of employees cheered Honda of America CEO Hidenobu Iwata as he announced that the company will spend 70 million dollars to build the Acura NSX in Marysville. The NSX was manufactured in Japan from 1990 to 2005. Governor John Kasich called Honda’s decision a “home run” for Ohio.

NASA has selected an Ohio nonprofit organization to manage a contest aimed at helping unmanned aerial vehicles fly safely in civilian airspace.

NASA said Friday that it picked Development Projects Inc. in Dayton to run the competition involving the vehicles commonly referred to as drones.

The Dayton Daily News reports the contest is expected to draw competing teams from across the country to fly robotic aircraft in restricted airspace above the Camp Atterbury military operating range in southern Indiana.

The program executive of the NASA Centennial Challenges Program in Washington says the first stage of the competition to start next year will test the unmanned vehicles' capabilities to avoid aircraft broadcasting their location and direction.

An Ohio trade group's report shows statewide home sales rose nearly 12 percent in March compared to a year ago.

Ohio Association of Realtors President Thomas Williams says in a statement that the state's housing market is making steady progress in its effort to establish a solid foundation.

The association said Monday that sales through the first quarter of the year reached 24,412 - a more than 13-percent increase from the 21,515 sales posted during the same period a year ago. The average sales price of $130,668 was a 5.2 percent increase from the $124,259 average price posted in March 2012.

The House has approved its version of the budget, and now the Senate will make its changes. One idea that’s been suggested by Senate President Keith Faber is to replace the House’s 7% income tax cut for all Ohioans with a 50% income tax cut to small businesses, which had been in Gov. John Kasich’s budget.

It’s a bad idea to replace the across the board income tax cut with a cut just for small businesses, says Jon Honeck with the progressive leaning Center for Community Solutions. He says for the overwhelming number of those small enterprises in Ohio, the cut wouldn’t be enough to create even one position.

“And it creates unfairness I think in terms of one group getting basically 50% of its income sheltered,” says Honeck.