Indiana’s unemployment rate remains unchanged at 4.1 percent for August, and the national rate is 5.2 percent. 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 2,499 over the previous month. This was a result of a decrease of 813 unemployed residents and a decrease of 1,686 employed residents.
Locally, Marshall County is ranked 64th up from its 71st ranking in July. The August rate was 3.1% while the July rate was the same, 3.1%.
Taking a look at the counties surrounding Marshall are LaPorte County who remained 3rd on the list of counties with a rate of 5.4% a slight improvement from their July rate of 5.8%. Starke County fell to 15th on the list of counties with a rate of 4.4. in July they were 7th with a rate of 5.1%. St. Joseph County has an August rate of 4.3 and they are ranked 17th. Last month their rate was 4.6% and they were ranked 13th on the list of Indiana counties. Fulton County moved to 36th position with a rate of 3.7% while their July rate was 3.9 and they were ranked 32nd. Kosciusko is another county that fell slightly, from 70th to 74th with a rate of 3.0. Their July rate was 3.1%. Elkhart County is at the bottom of the list of counties and ranked 81st of the 92 counties with an unemployment rate of 2.8%. Last month they were 80th with a rate of 2.9%.
Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.34 million, and the state’s 63.1 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 61.7 percent.
Learn more about how unemployment rates are calculated here: http://www.hoosierdata.in.gov/infographics/employment-status.asp.
