Putnam County unemployment rate best in months at 4.3%

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Recording its best jobless rate in more than nine months, Putnam County posted a 4.3 percent mark for May in the latest figures released this week by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD).

That 4.3 percent figure -- the county's best mark since posting an identical jobless number nine months ago -- puts Putnam County near the middle of the pack among Indiana's 92 counties.

For May, Putnam County came in tied for 48th overall with Pulaski, Pike and Jay counties at 4.3 percent.

Earlier this year, Putnam County posted Putnam County unemployment rate best in months at 4.3%

Recording its best jobless rate in more than nine months, Putnam County posted a 4.3 percent mark for May in the latest figures released this week by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD).

That 4.3 percent figure -- the county's best mark since posting an identical jobless number nine months ago -- puts Putnam County near the middle of the pack among Indiana's 92 counties.

For May, Putnam County came in tied for 48th overall with Pulaski, Pike and Jay counties at 4.3 percent.

Earlier this year, Putnam County posted jobless figures of 5.0 percent for January, 5.6 percent for February, 5.7 for March and 5.0 for April.

The last time the county had an unemployment rate lower than 4.3 percent was the 4.1 percent mark for September 2015. May's figure equals the 4.3 percent rate posted for October 2015.

Meanwhile, again this month, the Putnam numbers are better than all other west-central Indiana counties of Clay (4.7), Parke (5.1), Owen (5.4), Vigo (5.5), Sullivan (5.8), Greene (6.3) and Vermillion (6.5).

With the exception of Clay, the other west-central counties all find themselves again mired in the state's bottom 20 for May, including Vermillion with the state's worst unemployment figure.

Among counties contiguous to Putnam on the east and north, Hendricks again ranks among Indiana's best with a 3.5 percent jobless rate, good for 11h best in the state. Montgomery County was tied for 20th at 3.7 percent in the latest figures, while Morgan was tied for 44th best at 4.2.

In order, the top 10 Hoosier jobless rates by county for May are: Hamilton and Dubois (3.1), LaGrange (3.2), White, Boone and Bartholomew (all at 3.3), followed by Wells, Rush, Decatur and Daviess (all at 3.4).

On the opposite end of the unemployment spectrum, the state's bottom 10 was again topped by Vermillion County (6.5), followed by Greene (6.3), Fayette and Lake (6.1), Sullivan (5.8), LaPorte (5.7), Lawrence (5.6), Vigo and Fountain tied for ninth at 5.5 percent with Owen County at 5.4 percent rounding out the list.

Indiana's jobless rate dropped in May to 5 percent (with a non-seasonally adjusted rate of 4.3 percent), which remains higher than the national rate but still lower than most of the state's neighbors.

The number of unemployed Hoosiers dropped by more than 5,000 compared to April, according to DWD figures.

"The state's jobless rate has been generally falling since the Great Recession but on a month-by-month basis it has ticked up and down, due in part to the number of people who are looking for work," the Indianapolis Business Journal reports.

Indiana's jobless rate was 5.2 percent for April, while it was 4.8 percent one year ago.

"Indiana's labor force participation rate is at the highest point since 2009 and continues to outpace the national average," DWD Commissioner Steven Braun said in a press release. "Indiana experienced positive gains in employment accompanied by a decrease in unemployment, which suggests that many Hoosier job seekers, including those joining the workforce for the first time in May, found success in securing gainful employment."

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