Putnam jobless rate equals to that of state

OK, so the numbers don't seem to add up. Chalk it up as a statistical anomaly.

For despite a jobless rate exactly the same as that of the state of Indiana as a whole for November, Putnam County has again posted a monthly unemployment figure in the bottom half of the state rankings.

Indiana's unemployment rate remained steady at 5.8 percent for November, while the Putnam County rate was also reported as 5.8 percent (up from 5.2 percent in October) -- good for 57th among the 92 Hoosier counties.

And again this month, Putnam finds itself smack dab in the middle of the seven-county area with three contiguous counties posting better marks and three others lagging behind the local figure.

The best of those, as usual Hendricks County, was tied for seventh overall with a 4.8 percent mark, while Morgan, checking in at 5.3 percent, was 32nd overall and Montgomery, at 5.6 percent, was tied for 50th best.

On the opposite end of the jobless spectrum, Clay, Owen and Parke counties all fell into the bottom 20 Hoosier counties for November with the three of them posting identical 6.6 percent unemployment figures for the month to tie for 15th worst overall.

While there was no month-to-month change for Indiana, it marked the 11th straight month the unemployment rate has remained at or below the national average of 5.8 percent, according to a report released by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

Indiana's best jobless figure (4.1 percent) is again owned by Dubois County with Hamilton and Bartholomew tied for second at 4.4, followed in the top 10 by Daviess (4.6), Warrick and Boone at 4.7, followed by Hendricks, Jackson, Kosciusko and Wells in a tie at 4.8.

Meanwhile, landing at the bottom of Indiana jobless pack for October were Fayette and Lake, tied for last at 7.9 percent, Sullivan at 7.7, LaPorte at 7.5 and Vermillion and Vigo at 7.4. Rounding out the bottom 10 are Jasper at 7.3 percent, followed by Fountain and Miami at 7.0 and Lawrence and Starke tied at 6.9 percent unemployment.