Virus-inflated Putnam jobless rate at 11.3% for May

Monday, June 22, 2020

Try to figure out this statistical anomaly -- the county has posted its worst, double-digit unemployment rating in decades, yet has earned its best ranking in months.

With some factories idled, restaurants, businesses and schools closed because of the COVID-19 issue, the monthly unemployment rates compiled by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development have taken on an unusual look for May.

For example, the Putnam County ranking by county is as good as it has been in a couple of years -- tied with five other counties, including Marion -- for the 49th-best ranking of Indiana’s 92 counties.

However, an unheard of 11.3 percent unemployment figure is where Putnam County is at for the same time period. And while the county generally posts the best monthly jobless rate of any of the seven west-central Indiana counties, today it nearly has the worst mark. That 11.3 percent mark trails Owen and Parke (8.9 percent), Clay (10.7), Sullivan (11.0), Vigo (12.1) and Vermillion (12.3).

The state’s unemployment rate for May is 11.9 percent.

The Putnam number is also worse than all contiguous counties -- Hendricks (8.0), Morgan (8.5), Owen and Parke (8.9), Montgomery (9.3) and Clay (10.7) -- for May.

Overall, Indiana’s top 10 best jobless ratings for May are: 1. Daviess (5.6), 2. Dubois (5.7), 3. Martin (5.9), 4. Boone (6.7), 5. Posey (7.3), 6. Hamilton (7.5), 7. Monroe (7.8), 8. Spencer and Hendricks (8.0), 10. Morgan (8.5)

Meanwhile, the bottom 10 unemployment ratings for May are: 1. Howard (21.8), 2. Fayette (18.6), 3. Orange (18.5), 4. Scott (18.1), 5. Jackson (16.5), 6. Decatur (16.4), 7. Lake and Noble (16.2), 9. Blackford (16.1) and 10., Jennings (15.6).

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