Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.9percent for October and remains lower than the national rate of 4.1 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 four full years.
Looking locally you find Marshall County 76th on the list of 92 counties with a rate of 2.9 which slightly down from the September rate of 3.0. Looking back over the last couple of months the county rate has been 3.6 in August, 2.9 in July, 2.6 in June and 2.3 in May and April.
Taking a look at the counties surrounding Marshall you will find Starke County who is 9th on the list of counties with a rate of 4.1, down from the September rate of 4.3 and August rate of 4.6. Fulton County also saw a slight decrease in their unemployment number for the past three months. The October rate was 3.2, a reduction from the 3.4 in September and the 3.9 in August.
Other counties include Pulaski County who’s rate has held steady at 3.5 for the past three months. St. Joseph County sits 44 the on the list of counties with an October rate of 3.5 down from the 3.5 rate in September. Kosciusko is 87th on the list of counties with a rate of 2.6 a slight decrease from their September rate of 2.7 and Elkhart County remains near the bottom of the list of 92 counties at 91st with a rate of 2.4, slightly less than their September rate of 2.5.
The monthly unemployment rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people seeking employment within the prior four weeks as a percentage of the labor force. Indiana’s labor force had a net decrease of 11,694 over the previous month, which was a result of 2,351 unemployed residents seeking employment and a 14,045 decrease in residents employed. Indiana’s total labor force stands at 3.33 million, and the state’s 64.2 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 62.7 percent.
In addition, Indiana’s initial and ongoing unemployment insurance claims are at historical lows.
