Jobless rate up in April

After several months of holding the lowest unemployment rate in the region, Jay County’s rate has now jumped back within the top 25 highest in the state even though the county added jobs in April.
The unemployment rate jumped up .8 percentage points in April to 9.2 percent, giving Jay County the 24th-highest unemployment rate among Indiana’s 92 counties.
However, according to labor force estimates released late last week by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, 219 more people were back to work in April than in March.
The phenomenon occurs because unemployment rates are represented as the number of unemployed divided by the total estimated labor force — the number of people of working age who are actively seeking employment.
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The labor force figure fluctuates from month to month due to a number of factors — older workers retiring, younger workers joining the workforce for the first time or for seasonal employment or people who have given up in a job search.
In April the Jay County labor force was 11,304, while in March it was only 10,953. Although 219 more people were working in April than March, the growth did not outpace the growth in people seeking work, leading to a significant jump in the county’s rate.
“I’d say you’ve got a fluctuation of … 700,” said Jay County Development Corporation executive director Bill Bradley of the county’s labor force since 1999.
The fluctuation between labor force and number of unemployed people can account for some variations in the rate, although Bradley noted, “It’s the only measurement we really seem to have.”
On straight employment numbers, the county has improved over the last six months. In October 2010 when the rate was 8.4 percent, 10,036 people were employed, compared to April 2011’s 10,259. But, due to labor force growth, the jobless rate has increased during that period. However, the figure is significantly lower than the pre-recession April 2008 number of 11,095 employed.
The number of unemployed in Jay County maxed out during summer 2009 when 1,459 were out of work. The number has declined, but not back to pre-recession levels. In April 2008 before the national economic turmoil began, Jay’s unemployment rate was 4.6 percent and only 536 people were without a job.
Bradley also said the increase in joblessness may be attributed to some variation at major Portland industry FCC (Indiana), which had its supply chain affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
“That may be the fluctuation, that may be the ying and the yang with FCC,” Bradley said. “I honestly think that’s what that reflects.”
On the development side, Bradley said the county is currently in a lull.
“It’s slowed down a little bit,” he said, but added, “We’ve got some projects we’re going to be bouncing out (within the month).”
Bradley also said an announcement from American Electric Power about a proposed wind farm in southern Jay County and Randolph County is expected this month.
“We should know more about who the developer is this week or the first of next week,” he said. News about the project could be released this afternoon.
On the state level, unemployment fell drastically, as the non-adjusted rate dropped to 8.1 percent from 8.8 percent. Many counties throughout the state saw marked decreased in jobless rates, another reason why Jay County’s ranking jumped into the top 25 this month.
“Indiana is 0.8 percent below the national rate for the first time since June 2003,” said Mark W. Everson, Commissioner of the Department of Workforce Development in a press release. “The state’s rate has steadily decreased over the past year.”
In the region, Jay County was the sole county to experience a rate increase as other neighboring counties saw significant decreases in April. Wells County’s rate drop 1.3 percentage points to 7.3 percent to claim the lowest figure in the seven-county area.
Individual unemployment rates for counties in the area are as follows:
Randolph County: 9.9 percent, down 1.1 percentage points from April, t-9th highest rate in the state.
Blackford County: 9.8 percent, down .7 percentage points, 12th highest rate.
Jay County: 9.2 percent, up .8 percentage points, t-24th highest.
Grant County: 8.9 percent, down .8 percentage points, t-31st highest.
Delaware County: 8.6 percent, down .8 percentage points, t-37th highest.
Adams County: 7.6 percent, down .6 percentage points, t-63rd highest.
Wells County: 7.3 percent, down 1.3 percentage points, t-69th highest.[[In-content Ad]]