Ohio's three biggest metro areas added twice as many jobs in 2012 and 2013 as first thought, led by big increases in Columbus. Revised state employment data released yesterday show Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus added about 100,000 jobs over the past two years. Initial reports pegged that job growth at 47,900 jobs.

Ohio's three biggest metro areas added twice as many jobs in 2012 and 2013 as first thought, led by big increases in Columbus.

Revised state employment data released yesterday show Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus added about 100,000 jobs over the past two years. Initial reports pegged that job growth at 47,900 jobs.

In fact, the three metro areas accounted for most of the revised job gains the state reported in 2012 and '13.

In Columbus, the revised job-gain total for that two-year period was pegged at 46,100, compared with the 27,300 jobs originally reported.

The revised gain for 2012 - of 31,100 jobs - was particularly impressive, said Bill LaFayette, owner of economic consulting firm Regionomics.

That number represented the biggest gain on a percentage basis for the region since 1999 and outpaced the percentage gains in Ohio and the U.S.

"It's not just confined to a couple or three sectors," he said. "It's very broad based, and that's the kind of thing you want to see."

"That's obviously very positive," said Kenny McDonald, chief economic officer of Columbus 2020, the region's economic-development arm. He called this "an extraordinary time," adding, "We've got a lot of things going in the right direction."

For 2013, LaFayette said most sectors were revised higher, including construction, leisure and hospitality, and business services. The leisure and hospitality sector added 5,300 jobs in the region last year and 12,400 jobs over the past three years.

The report comes after the state said on Friday that Ohio's unemployment rate dropped to a post-recession low of 6.9 percent in January.

Separate data released yesterday showed that the unemployment rate rose in all 88 counties in January, which reflected cold weather and the end of holiday-season jobs.

Still, the rates for most counties in January were lower than they were in January 2013.

Columbus had an unemployment rate of 6 percent, up from 5.4 percent in December, but the rate was still the lowest among the state metros.

The county-by-county figures released yesterday are not adjusted to take into account seasonal variations while the state unemployment rate was.

Two central Ohio counties, Delaware and Union, were among five counties in the state with unemployment rates at or below 5.5 percent. Delaware's rate in January was 4.9 percent, and Union County had a 5.5 percent unemployment rate.

Franklin County had an unemployment rate of 5.9 percent in January.

LaFayette's said his seasonal adjustments show the Columbus area unemployment rate was 5.5 percent in January.

Mercer County in northwestern Ohio continued to have the lowest unemployment rate in Ohio, at 4.4 percent in January. Monroe County in southeastern Ohio, where the Ormet Corp. aluminum plant closed in October, had the highest rate, at 15 percent.

mawilliams@dispatch.com