Indiana’s labor force continued growing in April with 20,743 more Hoosiers joining the labor force. Since the beginning of 2016, Indiana’s labor force has grown by more than 82,000 and by 178,000 since January 2013. Correspondingly, the state’s labor force participation rate increased 0.4 percent in April while the nation’s rate decreased 0.2 percent. Indiana continues to outpace the national labor force participation rate average by two and a half percent (65.3 percent vs. 62.8 percent).
Marshall County’s unemployment rate for April was 4.2 down from March’s 4.7 ranking and making us 67th on the list of the 92 counties.
Looking at the counties that surrounding Marshall you will see LaPorte ranked 5th in the state with an unemployment rate of 6.5. They’ve see a consistent reduction. In March their rate was 7.7, and in February 8.6. Starke County sits 10th on the list with a rate of 6.0 down from the 7.3 in March while St. Joseph County is 46th with a rate of 4.8. Fulton County is 25th on the lists of counties with a rate of 5.3 down slightly from their 5.8 rate in Marc h. Kosciusko County was ranked 72nd in the state with an April unemployment rate of 4.1 and Elkhart County’s rate of 3.9 ranks them 82nd on the list of counties.
Topping the list in April was Greene County with an unemployment rate of 7.3 and Hamilton County is 92nd on the list with a rate of 3.4.
Indiana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people as a percentage of the labor force, rose by 0.2 percent over the previous month to 5.2 percent in April. This slight uptick is directly correlated to the large influx of Hoosiers joining the labor force. Additionally, initial unemployment insurance claims remain at their lowest level since the early 1970’s.
“More than 80,000 Hoosiers joined the workforce in the last four months, which doubles Indiana’s labor force growth for all of 2015,” said Steven J. Braun, Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. “Correspondingly, nearly 60,000 more Hoosiers joined the employed ranks in 2016. This suggests Hoosiers are increasingly confident in finding gainful employment.”
Commissioner Braun also noted that Indiana’s private sector employment increased by 12,000 in April, bringing Indiana’s total to its highest point ever. He added that April was the tenth-consecutive month private sector employment has been above the March 2000 peak and now stands at more than 32,000 jobs above this benchmark period.
