Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 4.0 percent for February, and the national rate is 6.2 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 4,971 over the previous month. This was a result of a decrease of 7,402 unemployed residents and an increase of 2,431 employed residents.
Marshall County’s unemployment rate for February was 3.9 ranking us 64th of the 92 counties. In January we were 3.8 and in December 2020 the unemployment rate was 3.4.
Taking a look back a couple years, you see the Marshall County’s unemployment rate was 4.0 in 2019; 3.5 in 2018 and 4.1 in 2017.
Looking at the counties surrounding Marshall you will find LaPorte at number 3 with an unemployment rate of 6.9, a slight increase from the January rate of 6.8. Starke County isn’t too far behind with a rate of 6.1 and a 5th place ranking. Last month they had a rate of 5.8. St. Joseph County is 14th on the list with a rate of 5.4. Their January rate was 5.6.Fulton county is 22nd with a rate of 5.1. Last month they had a rate of 4.8. Pulaski is 51st with a rate of 4.2. In January their rate was 3.9. Rounding out the counties Kosciusko County who has a February rate of 3.7 ranking them 74th. Elkhart has the best rate at 3.5 and ranked 80th of the 92 counties. Last month there were ranked 74the with a rate of 3.5.
Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.34 million, and the state’s 63.2 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 61.4 percent.
Private sector employment has decreased by 113,400 over the year and decreased by 6,600 over the previous month. The monthly decrease is primarily due to losses in the Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-5,500) and the Financial Activities (-900) sectors. Losses were offset by gains in the Manufacturing (2,500) and the Leisure and Hospitality (1,500) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,622,000, which is 118,500 below the new December 2019 peak.
Learn more about how unemployment rates are calculated here: http://www.hoosierdata.in.gov/infographics/employment-status.asp.
