Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.5 percent for August 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 four years. 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.
Marshall County was ranked 57th in the August 2018 unemployment rankings by counties with a rate of 3.5. In the July report the county was ranked 57th with a rate of 3.2. Looking back over the past couple of years you will find the Marshall County rate at 3.6 in 2017, 3.8 in 2016 and 3.5 in 2015.
Taking a look at counties surrounding Marshall you will find Starke County with a slight increase from 4.3 in July to 4.4 in August.
Fulton County saw a slight increase from their July rate of 3.3 to a 3.6 for August while Pulaski County is 59th on the list of counties with a rate of 3.5.
St. Joseph County’s rate was 3.7 in July ranking them 35th on the list of counties. Their August rate increased to 4.1 and moved them up the rankings list to 24th.
Kosciusko County continues to creep up the list of counties and while they were 81st in July with a rate of 2.8 they are 79th in August with an unemployment rate of 3.1.
Elkhart County remains near the bottom of the list of counties for their unemployment rate. In July 2018 they were at bottom of the list of counties with the best unemployment rate, a 2.6. For August they are 88th on the list of counties with a rate of 2.9.
Indiana’s labor force had a net increase of 11,085 over the previous month. This was a result of a 2,594 increase in unemployed residents and an increase of 8,491 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.39 million, and the state’s 65.0 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 62.7 percent.
In addition, Indiana’s initial unemployment insurance claims continue to be at historical lows.
