Unemployment Rate Drops in DeKalb County
Article by KPC Media | KPC News | January 23, 2019
INDIANAPOLIS — Unemployment in the four county area dropped in December, says data from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development released Tuesday.
Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.6 percent for December and remains lower than the national rate of 3.9 percent. With the exception of one month when it was equal (October 2014), Indiana’s unemployment rate now has been below the U.S. rate for more than five years. The monthly unemployment rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people seeking employment within the prior four weeks as a percentage of the labor force.
In the four-county area, all had unemployment rates below 3.0 percent.
As usual, LaGrange County led the way with an unemployment rate of 2.6 percent, down from 2.8 percent in November.
Noble County had the best improvement locally in December, dropping to 2.9 percent from 3.5 percent in November.
DeKalb County dropped to 2.8 percent in December from 3.0 percent in November. Steuben County was at 2.8 percent in December also, down from 2.9 percent in November.
LaGrange County was tied for the sixth-lowest unemployment rate in the state.
Indiana’s December labor force had a net increase of 1,543 over the previous month. This was a result of an increase of 83 unemployed residents and an increase of 1,460 employed residents.
Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.40 million, and the state’s 65.1 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 63.1 percent.
Here are some other takeaways from the December report:
• Indiana’s unemployment rate has decreased 7.0 percentage points since July 2009 (the low point of employment), which ranks 10th in the U.S.
• Total private employment reached a preliminary record high of 2.73 million, which is 42,700 above the official December 2017 peak. The new December 2018 peak is subject to monthly revisions and annual benchmarking.
• Indiana’s labor force participation rate has outperformed the national average for 55 months in a row. Indiana’s rate is currently 65.1 percent vs. 63.1 percent for nation.
• Indiana private sector jobs have grown 42,700 over the year.
Article source: https://www.kpcnews.com/heraldrepublican/article_f4ea7f5c-0904-53f7-90d2-201ced8f2da0.html