Ohio has seen its unemployment rate drop for the second month in a row.

The Department of Job and Family Services reports the Buckeye State had joblessness of 8.1% in December, down from 8.5%in November.

But a department spokesman says the decline primarily was the result of 21,000 Ohioans taking themselves out of the job market.

And a Marietta College economics professor says any improvement in the area's...and the nation's...economy this year will be slow.

"It's very slow. I expect this to continue this year, too," says Professor Jacquelline Khorassani. "I don't expect the unemployment rate to drop to 6% by the end of the year...I would be pleasantly surprised."

Workforce West Virginia announced Thursday the Mountain State's unemployment rate rose to 7.7% in December, up six-tenths of a percent from November.

The national jobless rate is 8.5%.