Putnam jobless rate same as state's but in bottom half of rankings

History tells us there are three kinds of lies -- lies, damned lies and statistics.

Whether you believe that wisdom is a Mark Twain nugget or something passed down from 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, know that it serves notice that numbers often just don't add up. Statistical anomalies, it seems, can be more norm than exception.

All that may help explain how the Putnam County jobless rate for May is exactly the same as the state figure for the same period, yet the local unemployment rate is sitting in the bottom half of the 92-county ranking, tied for a so-so 54th in the latest figures.

Like Putnam County, Indiana posted an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent for May, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development reported.

Again this month, Putnam's ranking falls 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, Hendricks County, was tied for 10th overall with a 3.8 percent mark, while Montgomery, at 4.1 percent, was tied for 26th best and Morgan, checking in at 4.5 percent, was 41st overall.

On the opposite end of the jobless spectrum, Clay, Parke and Owen counties are all rooted to the bottom 25 Hoosier counties with Owen County seventh worst overall with a 6.1 jobless rate. Parke County was tied for 18th worst at 5.5 percent, while Clay was tied for 23rd worst (68th best) at 5.3 percent.

Indiana's best jobless figure (3.2 percent) is again found in Dubois County with Hamilton next at 3.4 percent, followed by LaGrange and Bartholomew tied for third at 3.5. Also in the top 10 are Boone (3.6) and Daviess (3.7) with White, Spencer, Koscuisko and Hendricks, all tied for 10th at 3.8 percent.

Meanwhile, landing at the bottom of Indiana jobless pack was Vermilion County at 7.1 percent. Lake (6.9) was next with Fayette and Lawrence (both 6.5) followed tied for third worst and Greene (6.4) fifth. Rounding out the bottom 10 are Vigo (6.3), Owen (6.1) and Blackford, LaPorte, Orange and Sullivan all at 6.0 percent unemployment.

Indiana's unemployment rate decreased 0.3 percent to 4.8 percent in May. It marks the second month in a row the Hoosier State experienced significant declines in unemployment. The Hoosier labor force grew by nearly 1,400 individuals in May and is up more than 19,000 over the past year.

Since January 2013, Indiana's labor force has increased by 64,000, the second largest growth in the Midwest. During this same period, Indiana's unemployment rate has also decreased by 3.3 percent.

Indiana's labor force participation rate of 63.3 percent in May continued to outpace the national average by nearly one-half of a percentage point. May marked the 20th month in a row Hoosier labor force participation has exceeded the national average.

Private sector employment grew by 9,700 jobs in May as well, led mainly by increases in the Leisure and Hospitality (+3,100), Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+2,500), and Manufacturing (+2,000) sectors.

Indiana is now 300 private sector jobs below the all-time peak of employment, which occurred in March 2000.

"Indiana's addition of 64,000 individuals to the Hoosier labor force, as well as the significant decrease in unemployment over the past two and one-half years are remarkable," said Steven J. Braun, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. "During the same period private sector jobs have increased by more than 119,000 and our labor force is consistently participating at a rate above the national average. The combination of these widely recognized leading economic indicators, as well as overall wage growth above the national average signifies a strong economic recovery to this point."

Braun also noted unemployment insurance claims remain at their lowest levels since 2000.