Putnam jobless rate a not-so-perfect 10.0 for June

A perfect 10.0 is terrific if you’re an Olympic gymnast or you happen to be Bo Derek or her lookalike.

However, a 10.0 rating in the unemployment world is not where you want to land these days.

But that’s where Putnam County finds itself today -- at 10.0 percent unemployment -- a rate is actually better than the 11.3 percent Putnam number posted for May.

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 this time of year.

By county, the June ranking for Putnam County is actually better than it has been at any time over the couple of years -- tied with four other counties, Fountain, DeKalb, Lawrence and Ripley -- for the 41st-best ranking among Indiana’s 92 counties.

However, that 10.0 unemployment figure also puts Putnam County among 51 Indiana counties with double-digit jobless rates for June.

Normally owning the best monthly jobless rate of any of the seven west-central Indiana counties, today Putnam has one of the worst marks. Its 10.0 percent figure trails Parke (8.4 percent), Owen (9.4) and Clay (9.8), with Sullivan (10.3), Vermillion (10.6) and Vigo (12.0) lagging behind.

The state’s unemployment rate for June is 11.2 percent.

While better than the state average, the June Putnam number is worse than all contiguous counties -- Parke (8.4), Morgan (8.5), Hendricks (8.6), Montgomery (8.6), Owen (9.4) and Clay (9.8).

Overall, Indiana’s top 10 best jobless ratings for June are: 1. Daviess (5.7), 2. Martin (6.6), 3. Dubois (7.1), 4. Boone (7.2), 5.Posey (7.5), 6. Benton (7.7), 7. Spencer and Hamilton (7.8), 9. LaGrange and Adams (7.9).

Meanwhile, the bottom 10 unemployment ratings for June are: 1. Orange (20.2), 2. Howard (16.8), 3. Lake (15.8), 4. Fayette and LaPorte (15.6), 6. Switzerland (15.1), 7. Ohio (14.6), 8. Porter and St, Joseph (13.4), and 10.Blackford (13.1).

Indiana’s unemployment rate dropped to 11.2 percent for June, while the national rate is 11.1 percent. The monthly unemployment rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people seeking employment within the prior four weeks as a percentage of the labor force.

Indiana’s labor force had a net increase of 53,484 over the previous month. This was a result of a decrease of 28,747 unemployed residents and an increase of 82,231 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.39 million, and the state’s 64.3 percent labor force participation rate is above the national rate of 61.5 percent.

Private sector employment has decreased by 182,200 over the year and increased by 128,900 over the previous month. The monthly increase is primarily due to gains in the Leisure and Hospitality (46,900), the Manufacturing (19,000) and the Private Education and Health Services (16,700) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,552,400, which is 196,900 below the January 2019 peak.