Latest Putnam jobless rate lands in middle of state pack

Thursday, April 1, 2021

While not quite as good as unemployment numbers indicated earlier this year, the Putnam County jobless rate landed in the middle of the pack in the latest round of jobless figures.

After a 28th-place ranking with a 3.9 jobless percent figure for November, the local unemployment rate has gradually backslid over recent months.

Following local jobless figures as high as 11.3 percent last May and 10.0 in June, Putnam numbers have settled into a more normal jobless pattern recently with the county posting a 4.3 percent figure, according to February unemployment totals compiled by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

Industry experts typically note that 4.0 percent can be considered full employment since that number most often is comprised of the chronic unemployed -- those who couldn’t pass a drug screen to secure a job, those with transportation issues or parents who have child-care difficulties.

The latest jobless numbers find Putnam County’s ranking among Indiana’s top half, tying with five other counties -- Parke, Wabash, Dearborn, Jefferson, Noble -- for 45th-best among the 92 Hoosier counties.

That’s still a nice climb since last summer, when back in June, a 10.0 unemployment figure had lumped Putnam County among 51 Indiana counties suffering double-digit jobless rates. Since July, however, no Hoosier county has posted a double-digit jobless figure.

Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 4.0 percent for February with the national rate at 6.2 percent. The monthly jobless rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people seeking employment within the prior four weeks as a percentage of the labor force.

While falling just below the state average, the latest Putnam number is actually worse than all but two contiguous counties -- Owen (5.3 percent) and Clay (5.1) -- with Hendricks (3.4 percent, tied for sixth best in the state), Montgomery (14th best in the state at 3.6) and Morgan (4.1, tied for 36th) all posting better jobless numbers than Putnam for the month.

Among the seven west-central Indiana counties for February, Putnam is tied with Parke (4.3 percent), while ranking ahead of Sullivan (5.1), Clay (5.1), Owen (5.3), Vigo (5.7) and Vermillion (5.9).

Overall, Indiana’s top 10 best jobless ratings for February are: 1. LaGrange and Adams (2.9 percent), 3. Boone and Hamilton (3.1), 5. Daviess (3.2), 6. Hendricks and Gibson (3.4), 8. Whitley, White, Wells, Martin and Elkhart (all 3.5).

Meanwhile, the bottom 10 unemployment figures among Hoosier counties for February are: 1. Howard (8.5 percent), 2. Lake (7.4 percent), 3. LaPorte (6.9). 4. Miami (6.5), 5. Starke (6.1), 6. Fayette (6.0), 7. Vermillion (5.9), 8. Orange (5.8), 9. Vigo (5.7), 10. Madison (5.6).

Indiana’s labor force had a net decrease of 4,971 over the previous month. This was a result of a decrease of 7,402 unemployed residents and an increase of 2,431 employed residents.

Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.34 million, and the state’s 63.2 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 61.4 percent.

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  • It's crazy how you copy and paste the bottom half of these articles from the state report and change a few words around to make it look like you wrote it.

    I remember last time I commented on another jobs report article you wrote doing this same thing, you were so quick to make it vanish so no one would see it! LMAO that's messed up!

    -- Posted by Raker on Fri, Apr 2, 2021, at 10:09 PM
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