Putnam makes like Orson in latest jobless rankings

The Middle ...

That's where we're at, and that's where we apparently shall be.

In television sitcom terms, "The Middle" is someplace smack dab in the center of the country, specifically the middle of Indiana in the fictional town of Orson.

In reality, Putnam County is right in the middle this month, tied for the 45th and 46th spots among the 92 Hoosier counties in the latest monthly unemployment rankings released by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

With a jobless rate of 4.5 percent in the latest figures (for December), Putnam County is one-tenth of one percent ahead of the overall Indiana jobless rate of 4.6 percent.

The middle-of-the-pack ranking is the best showing Putnam County has made in the unemployment rankings for more than a year.

Putnam County also falls right in the middle -- three better and three worse -- when paired with the six contiguous counties it touches.

The 4.5 percent Putnam rate for December fared better than Clay (5.2 percent, 72nd best), Parke (5.8 percent, 76th best) and Owen (5.9 percent, 81st best -- or 12th worst).

Meanwhile, delivering numbers better than Putnam for December are Hendricks County (3.5 percent, tied for the state's fourth best figure), Montgomery (3.9 percent, tied for 17th) and Morgan (4.3 percent, tied for 39th best).

Again this month, the Putnam mark is better than the other west-central Indiana counties of Clay (5.2), Vigo (5.7), Parke (5.8), Owen (6.2), Sullivan (6.5), Vermillion (7.0) and Greene (7.3). The counties of Greene (No. 1), Vermillion (No. 2) and Sullivan (No. 5) all languish in the bottom five of the rankings.

The top 10 Hoosier jobless rates by county for December are Hamilton (3.1), Dubois (3.3), Bartholomew (3.3), Hendricks, LaGrange and Adams, all tied for fourth at 3.5, Boone and Elkhart at 3.6, Johnson, Jackson and Decatur (all 3.7) rounding out the top 10.

On the opposite end of the unemployment spectrum, the state's bottom 10 is topped by Greene County (7.3 percent) and Vermillion County (7.0), followed by Lake (6.7), Fayette and Sullivan tied for fourth worst at 6.5, followed by LaPorte, Lawrence and Starke, all at 6.4, tied for sixth worst. Crawford and Fountain, at 6.2 percent, rounded out the bottom 10.

The Hoosier State's unemployment rate remained unchanged for four consecutive months to end the year, holding steady at 4.6 percent since September. That's a 1.5 percent drop from the start of 2015.

"After closing out a year of record economic development and private sector employment in Indiana, I welcome the news that our unemployment rate remains at its lowest point in more than a decade," Gov. Mike Pence said in a statement. "The fact that more Hoosiers are working than ever before is worth celebrating, but I remain confident that we can build an Indiana ever more prosperous in the months and years ahead."

Indiana's private sector neither added nor lost any jobs in December: gains in trade, transportation and utilities and construction sectors were offset by significant manufacturing losses -- 3,400 jobs.

The private sector added more than 50,000 jobs over the year -- that's in the top third of the country for growth.