Policy Matters’ annual State of Working Ohio report finds that federal spending helped Ohio recover jobs more rapidly than after previous recessions, and that the state now has more jobs than ever before, breaking a record that has existed for nearly a quarter century. In March 2024, Ohio posted the largest job total in the state’s history, restoring the jobs lost to the 2001 dot com recession. Workers in the bottom 20% who were paid at or just above the minimum wage, saw the largest percent increase in wages since 2019, but the top 20% eclipses all other categories of workers experiencing a 29% rise in average median wage since 1979.