Rating better, rank worse for Putnam jobless figures

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Putnam County kissed double-digit unemployment goodbye for February, but nonetheless tumbled in the state jobless rankings announced in a Good Friday release by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

With a 9.8 percent jobless rate for February a couple ticks better than the 10.0 percent posted locally for January, Putnam's ranking slipped from 46th a month ago to 52nd overall last month.

When the February jobless numbers were announced this week, the local figure again fell near the middle of the pack. The 9.8 percent local rate tied Putnam with four other counties (Steuben, Elkhart, Decatur, Benton) for the 50th spot in the monthly unemployment rankings.

Putting a positive spin to that, the Putnam County "employment rate" for February would figure to 90.2 percent.

The jobless rate has continued to be unkind to Putnam County since last quarter of 2012. The final three months of 2012 saw the jobless figure rise each month from 7.1 percent in October to 8.0 percent in November and 8.6 for December to close out the year on a sour note. January then provided a 10.0 double-digit deflation.

Nonetheless, the 9.8 percent Putnam figure posted for February puts the county right in the middle of its neighbors.

Hendricks, which perpetually lands in the state's top 10, was fifth for February at an uncharacteristically high 7.3 percent.

Meanwhile, Montgomery County posted an 8.5 percent mark, tied for 23rd best, while Morgan was at 9.4 percent for the 42nd spot in the rankings for a third straight month.

Clay, Parke and Owen counties all slid into the bottom 20 with Clay and Parke at 11.2 percent, tied for 17th worst for February. Owen, which tumbled to 11.1 percent, was 20th worst (72nd overall).

The best jobless figure in the state again belongs to Hamilton County at 6.5 percent, followed by Dubois and Martin tied at 6.7, Daviess at 6.8, Hendricks at 7.3 percent, Monroe and Bartholomew at 7.4 with Knox, Jackson and Gibson all tied for eighth at 7.6.

For February, Vermillion County again finds itself at the bottom of the rankings at 13.8 percent, followed by Fayette and Sullivan (13.5), Crawford and Lawrence (12.4), Starke (12.3), LaPorte (12.0), Newton (11.8) and Blackford, Jennings and Madison (tied at 11.5) rounding out the bottom 10 counties.

Indiana continued a steady trend of private sector expansion in February, adding 5,800 jobs, maintaining a streak of growth dating back to July 2011.

February marked the 38th month of private sector increases in the 42 months since July 2009, the low point of employment in Indiana.

In that period, Indiana has added more than 188,000 private sector jobs, nearly 65,000 of which have been in the manufacturing sector alone. Over the past year manufacturing job growth in Indiana has more than tripled the national average (3.3 percent versus 0.9 percent).

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