By Cindi Andrews
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The headline of the first State of the County Report, to be released today, is that Hamilton County's still the engine that drives Greater Cincinnati's economy.

"We created a lot of jobs, even when we lost a lot of people," said Christine Nolan, the report's author. "We have a very strong economy."

The report is the first of a series that will tackle countywide issues as part of an effort to map the county's future. The Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission, which issued the report, is leading civic and local leaders in the initiative, called Community Compass.

One key finding is that job creation in Hamilton County has been steady since 1987, except during the 1990-92 recession and in 2001."Sometimes we're overwhelmed with bad news in Hamilton County, and the employment picture here has not deteriorated as badly as you might be led to expect," said George Vredeveld, director of the University of Cincinnati Center for Economic Education.

Focus on problems such as the county's population loss - a decade-long slide to 833,721 in 2002 - and Cincinnati's racial problems have created an overly pessimistic mindset, he said.

Job creation will pick up again, Nolan predicted.

Not so fast, said George Zeller, a senior researcher at the Council for Economic Opportunities of Greater Cleveland. Zeller, who tracks Ohio labor issues, said, "The job figures and population figures are directly related to each other."

Although jobs have generally grown in Hamilton County, they have grown faster in surrounding counties, the report noted. In 1987, almost 60 percent of regional jobs were in Hamilton County, but by 2001 its share fell to 53 percent. Warren and Clermont counties in Ohio and Boone County in Kentucky picked up most of the slack, the report said.

Hamilton County has other challenges.

The number of new business starts has been falling since 1997. This is of concern, Nolan said, because even though most new businesses fail, new starts are an indicator of a business community's vitality.

Ken Alltucker contributed. E-mail candrews@enquirer.com