More than 20,000 Hoosiers entered the labor force in February for a second consecutive month, resulting in a sharp increase in Indiana’s labor force participation rate. The percentage of the working-age population that is employed or looking for work in Indiana continues to outpace the national average by nearly two percent (64.6 percent vs. 62.9 percent). Of the 43,708 Hoosiers who entered the labor force during the past two months, 35,682 found employment.
Looking locally you’ll find Marshall County with an unemployment rate of 4.7 up from the 4.5 in January. Looking at counties around Marshall County you will find LaPorte County with a rate of 7.8 up from 7.1 in January. Starke County’s unemployment rate also took a jump from 6.9 to 7.3.
Others counties in the area are Fulton County who saw an increase to 6.2 from 6.0 in January. Pulaski County is 39th on the list of 92 counties with with a rate of 5.8, up from 5.3 while St. Joseph County is at 5.4 up from 5.1. Both Kosciusko and Elkhart counties continue to rank better than Marshall County. Kosciusko is 74th on the list with at rate of 4.6 an increase from the 4.2 in January and Elkhart county has a rate of 4.2 an increase from their rate of 3.9.
Indiana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people as a percentage of the labor force, rose by 0.1 percent over the previous month to 4.7 percent in February. Indiana’s unemployment rate remains below the national average of 4.9 percent.
“In the past two months, more than 35,000 Hoosiers rejoined the labor force and found employment due to the strong Hoosier economy,” said Steven J. Braun, Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. “This growth is even more impressive when compared to the 11,376 individuals who joined the labor force in January and February of 2015.”
Commissioner Braun also noted that initial unemployment insurance claims remain at the state’s lowest level in more than a decade.
